A CL AS S IC C OR N ER S T ON E OF D O WN T O W N PEN S A C OL A
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DIN N E R DAI LY MON DAY–S UN DAY
D o wn t o wn P ensa c ola, South 400 P al a f ox R eser v a tions: 850-4 6 9-9 8 9 8 j a cksons r e s t a u r ant c o m
winners & losers winners losers
AMY GOKEY Lakeview Center named Amy Gokey, director of its Friary Pensacola facility, as Team Member of the Year, recognizing her leadership, commitment to high-quality care and nearly two decades of service to adults receiving mental health and substance use treatment across Northwest Florida. Gokey began her career at Lakeview Center as a behavior technician, later earning her master's degree and advancing through therapist and leadership roles. She helped establish the Friary's Home Base program in 2024, which serves veterans and others experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. Lakeview Center team members provide more than 2,800 outpatient counseling sessions each month. Supervisor Jeff Fletcher said, "The work Amy has done to support veterans, people with PTSD and others in need has made a very large impact on our community."
HONG POTOMSKI Florida Blue has named Hong Potomski as Market President for Northwest Florida, a newly created position overseeing business strategy and community engagement across 19 Panhandle counties, including the Pensacola, Panama City and Tallahassee markets. A Pensacola native, Potomski brings more than 20 years of healthcare experience spanning hospital and payor organizations. She joined Florida Blue in 2021 and most recently served as Northwest Florida Market Leader. In her new role, she will work with local customers, healthcare providers, business leaders and community organizations to improve health outcomes and expand access to care across the region.
ANDIE GIBSON Escambia County named Andie Gibson, Public Information Officer in the Community and Media Relations Department, its February 2026 Employee of the Month. Approaching her five-year anniversary with the county this August, Gibson manages press releases, social media and public communications covering county programs, road closures and public meetings. She also responds to media requests from local, regional and national outlets, often after hours and on weekends. Director of Communications Kaycee Lagarde praised Gibson's dedication, professionalism and positive attitude. Outside her county role, Gibson serves as Vice President of Communications and Digital Media for the Pensacola Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association.
CASEY DESANTIS Florida's "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) coalition sent a pointed message to First Lady Casey DeSantis: stay in your lane. MAHA Moms of Florida released polling showing deep skepticism among GOP primary voters toward DeSantis's newly launched Florida First Initiative, which promotes removing toxins from the food supply. According to Florida Politics, 34% of GOP primary voters don't believe her food safety claims at all, while 42% view her health messaging push as a political distraction tied to the Hope Florida controversy. The coalition's preferred leader is clear. Some 67% of respondents named President Trump as the rightful steward of the MAHA agenda, compared to just 9% for DeSantis. Fifty-eight percent said she should stop attempting to undermine the President on the issue entirely. Ouch.
JAMES UTHMEIER Florida's Attorney General has been moonlighting as an adjunct law professor at the University of Florida, collecting $100,000 a year on top of his $140,000 state salary, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The arrangement, never publicly announced, makes Uthmeier the highest-paid adjunct at the UF Levin College of Law in at least 25 years and eight times the national median for law school adjuncts. UF has no record of required conflictof-interest disclosures from Uthmeier. The hiring was initiated by an undisclosed member of the UF Board of Trustees shortly after DeSantis appointed him Attorney General in February 2025.
THE POLYNT GROUP The Italy-based global specialty chemicals company has closed its Pensacola plant on the west side of the city near Bayou Chico. WEAR-TV reported that more than 60 workers were notified last year after the company ceased operations in September. Reichold Composites owned the facility until the company merged with the Polynt Group in May 2017. The plant produced industrial gels, composites and industrial cleaners. The Pensacola site has been under environmental orders and remediation for decades and has required substantial cleanup by Reichhold and other responsible parties. City officials had no knowledge that the plant had closed.
Amy Gokey / Photo Courtesy of Lakeview Center Casey DeSantis / Photo Courtesy of flgov.com
outtakes
By Rick Outzen
A CENTURY OF HISTORY, IGNORED
For most of the past century, WCOA was synonymous with Pensacola. That changed when Cumulus Media bought the station and put profit over people. The media giant's disrespect for Pensacola's history and this community explains why the 100th anniversary of Pensacola's first radio station—on Feb. 3—passed with no fanfare.
WCOA's tale is indistinguishable from Pensacola's. In late 1925, Mayor James Bayliss, City Commissioner Frank Sanders, City Clerk John Frenkel Sr. and George Hendricks scraped together $3,500 to purchase secondhand radio equipment from WOAI in San Antonio. They took it up to the second floor of City Hall, installed a baby grand piano and a few standup microphones and launched something that would outlast them all.
Florida had only two other radio stations then. Pensacola was punching well above its weight. The station's call letters represented the "Wonderful City of Advantages."
The station grew as the city did. John C. Pace moved it to the seventh floor of the San Carlos Hotel in 1931, where it stayed for over 20 years. He bargained with CBS to make it possible for local people to listen to Dizzy Dean and the Gashouse Gang win the 1934 World Series. The broadcast enjoyed such popularity that it spawned a 1,400-member radio club, with each member pledging $6 in exchange for a permanent arrangement with CBS.
The Pensacola News Journal bought it in 1937, and WCOA became the city's window into the world. Northwest Florida gathered around their radios listening to Edward R. Murrow from wartorn London. Eric Sevareid spoke of the liberation of Europe. They could hear Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Peggy Lee pouring through the static on sticky nights on the Gulf Coast.
A PUBLIC DIALOGUE WCOA changed to news-talk in 1991, and it became a platform for discussion of community issues. "Pensacola Speaks" offered precisely what the name suggested. Luke McCoy, "the common man's intellectual," and Don Parker began a morning institution that survived changes in ownership, technology and our media landscape around it.
Parker babysat me through my initial six months on the show, when I ran "Pensacola Speaks" from 2015 through 2018. He knew what the show meant to this city, even when Cumulus felt compelled to post disclaimers before and after my segments.
Three years later, I reunited with Sena Maddison to produce a morning show, "Real News with Rick Outzen," after Parker's passing from a lengthy illness. The program was not intended to be about the hosts, but about people and their stories. We did over 3,940 interviews from Aug. 9, 2021, to Nov. 14, 2024. Even though we were on-air for only 90 minutes on weekdays.
We were well on our way to brag about 5,000 by the time we celebrated the station's 100th anniversary, but Cumulus had another plan. On Nov. 14, 2024, Don Boyd drove from Mobile, Ala., where he presided over that town's radio stations, to tell us the corporation had decided to alter WCOA's programming to only syndicated shows. Cumulus canceled "Real News," despite our program's popularity.
We were not surprised, because we'd already battled with management to fix our tower and allow our signal to return to full strength. We logged on a dry-erase board the days listeners could hear "Real News" on the internet only. Cumulus phased our show out of the airwaves, yet our fans found us anyway.
ONLY A SIGNAL
Today, Cumulus hopes business owners won’t realize WCOA has no local programming and few listeners. To corporate, WCOA is merely a signal. The death of WCOA does not move the needle in Atlanta. I understand that.
But cities need institutions that remember. At its best, radio has always been a living record of a community talking and bearing witness to the passage of time. The folks who purchased that equipment in 1925, who brought it up a staircase at City Hall and pointed a microphone at a baby grand piano, thought Pensacola was worth broadcasting around the world.
A centennial comes once. This one deserved more than silence. {in} rick@inweekly.net
CHILDREN'S TRUST TIGHTENS STANDARDS
By Tom St. Myer
It wasn't exactly the wild, wild west, but for the past three years, providers could run amok with taxpayer money awarded by the Escambia Children's Trust.
Those days will soon be over. The Trust is replacing its current model with Bright Pathways, a $3.5 million grant where your tax dollars will actually follow the children and out-of-school providers will be held accountable. The Trust board approved Bright Pathways earlier this month and released the request for proposals.
The Trust established its current out-of-school programming before Lindsey Cannon replaced Tammy Greer as executive director. Cannon admits the model lacked the standards necessary to ensure providers held true to their word and received the funding they actually deserved.
"It would be inappropriate if we didn't as an organization look at the whole situation," Cannon said. "What can we do better? What expectations do we have of those being funded? We have to rise to the occasion and be more accountable."
The answer to those questions is Bright Pathways. The Trust spent about a year developing the program, adding guardrails to improve structure, with more prescribed requirements and accountability measures sorely lacking in the current model.
DISBELIEVERS
The New World Believers H.O.O.P.S. program (Healthy Opportunities & Options Pro -
moting Success) is a perfect example of how previously funded providers operated without such guardrails.
New World Believers received over $900,000 in grants before the Trust discovered problems with the H.O.O.P.S. program.
Last month, the Pensacola Police Department arrested New World Believers founder Rodney Jones for sexual battery of a minor, and his son, Rodrico Jones, for tampering with a witness. The police later arrested two more of his children, Romeo Jones and Selina Jones, for obstructing justice. Rodney, Rodrico and Romeo held positions at New World Believers and were paid with funds provided by the Trust.
Before the arrests, Rodney's wife, Latasha Jones, informed the Trust about a change in leadership because of a pending Department of Juvenile Justice investigation.
"When New World Believers told me there was a change in leadership, it prompted a meeting," Cannon said. "Two days later, I learned the DJJ was investigating. That's when we suspended the contract, and I started auditing things very closely."
Cannon requested information confirming that New World Believers complied with contract requirements, particularly employee background screening. When Cannon discovered a breach of contract, the Trust suspended payment of about $500,000 in remaining grant funding, and New World Believers surrendered over $300,000.
STRICTER STANDARDS
The Trust established stricter standards for Bright Pathways to ensure breaches of contract are discovered early in the process. Cannon said one provider the Trust previously funded has already told her the program standards are too stringent and they will not apply for a grant.
"We have to rise to the occasion and be more accountable."
Lindsey Cannon
"This is where we're going if we're going to be accountable to taxpayers and most importantly to kids to really expand their support," Cannon said.
The Trust will collect baseline, mid-year and end-of-year assessments through IXL, supple -
mented by school district data on attendance, discipline and formal state assessments. IXL is a pre-K through 12 supplemental curriculum platform for math and English Language Arts that the Trust will provide to all funded programs at about $18.75 per participant.
Programs will further be evaluated on socialemotional learning, attendance and discipline metrics, arrest and juvenile justice data and career and workforce readiness measures—with data collected through a combination of provider logs, district records, surveys and Escambia County juvenile justice data-sharing agreements.
"It really gives us across-the-board, apples-toapples data," said Deborah Ray, director of programs and performance for the Trust. "Our staff would be trained as well as each of the providers."
MONEY FOLLOWS STUDENTS
Bright Pathways put measures in place to ensure providers receive proper funding based on the number of children served. Providers who offer a 10-month program during the school year will receive $2,000 per child and year-round providers will receive $2,500 per child. The maximum annual grant is $350,000.
"It needs to be leveled," Cannon said. "We can't have some making $80,000 a year and some making $1 million a year. The board kept asking, 'What's the cost per child?' Those numbers we came up with were not arbitrary. It's the average of what folks are spending for a child year-round."
The current model allowed providers to set their own attendance goals and outcomes. Bright Pathways requires school-year programs to operate Monday through Friday, with a minimum of 100 program days annually and at least two hours of programming per day. Funded summer programs will run at least 24 days with a minimum of four hours per day of structured activities.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) awards additional points to applicants serving children in Century, Warrington, Navy Point, Brownsville, Ensley and other underserved neighborhoods. Secondary programs serving middle and high school students will also receive bonus points in the scoring process.
Board member Stephanie White said Bright Pathways better positions the board to make data-informed decisions. The current model sometimes put the board in the unenviable position of approving funding proposals without concrete data.
"The new [RFP], Bright Pathways, will standardize academic goals and assessment measures among the providers, which will help the board have consistent benchmarks to make data-informed decisions and public investments," White said. "Most importantly, this RFP will bring highquality education and enrichment to our children, youth and families."
SUCCESS STORIES
For all its issues, the current model has funded successful programs. In July, 10 local nonprofit representatives funded by the Trust took the stage at CivicCon to share their success
stories. The nonprofits included the Northwest YMCA with its Y Reads! program, the Boys and Girls Club with its Great Futures in Escambia County program and James B. Washington Education and Sports.
Y Reads! serves 476 students across seven elementary schools, targeting the critical gap where locally only 53% of third-graders read at grade level. With 84% of students showing growth in standardized tests and 92% promoted to the next grade, Y Reads demonstrates that intensive early literacy intervention changes educational trajectories. The Trust awarded the program $2.7 million over the past three years.
The Boys and Girls Club employs certified Florida teachers and maintains a legal agreement with the school district to track grades, attendance and behavior. The program exceeded its proposed enrollment by 240%, serving children from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with a comprehensive approach that includes academics, character development and workforce preparation. The Trust awarded the Boys and Girls Club more than $2.4 million over the past three years for the program.
James B. Washington Education and Sports uses basketball as a gateway to academic success in high-crime communities like Haynes Street and Gonzales Court. Its program requires a 2.5 grade-point average and mandatory tutoring for struggling students. The Trust awarded the program nearly $1 million over the past three years.
Retired educator and coach Benny Washington is the founder and director of James B. Washington Education and Sports. Washington attended the Trust board meeting earlier this month when the board approved Bright Pathways. He voiced just one concern about Bright Pathways: the requirement of one staff employee for every 15 elementary students.
"With the kids we have, I just want you to know in the beginning, the kids can't read, and so sometimes you need to take an instructor or a tutor to pull those kids over to the side and put them in a room, and a lot of these kids have [disabilities]; and so a lot of these kids, especially at that young age, need a little bit more hands-on, one-on-one," Washington said.
The 1:15 ratio mirrors the state standards. Cannon said providers could use volunteers to improve the ratio rather than overstaff and deplete their budgets.
Bright Pathways proposals are due April 10, with the grants committee meeting scheduled for April 28. The full board will hear funding recommendations on May 12, with an anticipated contract start date of Aug. 1.
"I feel like this is going to be really impactful for our community in a positive way," Cannon said. "There are probably some smaller [providers] or even larger ones that will be disappointed with the structure, but we have to have something standardized with meaningful data."
To learn more about the Escambia Children's Trust, visit escambiachildrenstrust.org. {in}
Image Courtesy of Escambia Children's Trust
weekly in a phone interview last week. "The mixing of the money makes it very difficult to account for where the money is, how it's being spent and who it's being spent on."
Gaetz suggested there may be a more significant political issue is blocking SB 318. He believes House leadership views the Senate's reform bill as leverage in the ongoing friction between the two chambers.
"There are places in Florida, members of the House, that have not hit the pain threshold yet," Gaetz said, suggesting some state representatives have so far not seen the broken voucher system's toll on their home districts.
EPA CLEANUP UPDATE
The Pensacola City Council, convening as the Community Redevelopment Agency, received earlier this month an update on the American Creosote Works Superfund site, learning that an $8.6 million funding gap threatens the timeline for a remediation project that has languished since the site's Superfund designation in 1982.
PENSACOLA'S GRIP ON ELITE SAILING
American Magic co-founder Doug DeVos announced the acquisition of the ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team in a $60 million deal, which will route even more elite racing operations through the Port of Pensacola.
SailGP is a global professional sailing league founded in 2018 that operates on a circuit model similar to Formula 1, with events held in cities such as San Francisco, Sydney, Bermuda and Dubai. Every team races the same F50 hull, so the competition comes down to crew skill and tactics rather than which team has the biggest engineering budget.
American Magic will own and operate the Danish team, which holds the all-time SailGP speed record of 103.93 km/h. ROCKWOOL remains as title partner through 2032, the longeststanding team sponsorship in the league's history. The acquisition builds on an agreement announced in January that makes the American Magic High Performance Center in Pensacola SailGP's first long-term training base.
"This further cements Pensacola as the preeminent sailing destination in the United States," said Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves. "We welcome the ROCKWOOL team, and we appreciate American Magic's significant investment. This will change our community, our region, and puts this city on the map globally as a hub for sailing excellence."
SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts called it "a significant moment" for the league, praising American Magic as "world-class operators, equipped to compete at the very highest levels of our sport."
American Magic CEO Mike Cazer described the move as "a return-delivering, strategic investment in a fast-growing sport."
INFANT MORTALITY METRIC Pensacola
Rep. Alex Andrade, who chairs the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, has given Florida's
Medicaid managed care plans an ultimatum: re duce infant mortality or take a financial hit.
A provision in the House healthcare spending plan would continue withholding 2% of each managed care plan's capitation payments but rewrites how plans earn that money back. Under the proposal, only two of the state's eight managed care plans could unlock the full withholding. One slot goes to the plan recording the largest infant mortality rate reduction. The other goes to the plan reporting the greatest reduction by raw numbers. If one plan leads both categories, it stands alone as the only plan eligible for full repayment.
Other plans showing year-over-year improvement would recover half the withheld funds. Plans that backslide would forfeit the entire 2% and face a four-month suspension from auto-assignment, which is the process that routes Medicaid beneficiaries to a plan when they don't select one within 60 days of enrollment. A four-month ban could significantly decrease both enrollment and revenue.
Andrade said the proposal is a direct response to a managed care system that has failed to deliver on its original promise. "We thought that turning Medicaid over to private companies would inject some private market efficiencies into this system, but what we've really discovered is that there's no real competition in Medicaid managed care plans."
The lawmaker noted a troubling market signal. Some companies have abandoned private insurance product lines. He said, "They've gotten out of the private health insurance game entirely because this Medicaid managed care system is so profitable for them. That's a problem."
Under the current quality withholding framework, all plans are eligible to receive the full 2% based on a variety of metrics. Andrade says his proposal would replace that system with one that forces plans to compete on a single, high-stakes outcome.
"The idea is, so long as you show improve -
ment, you'll get at least 1% of your revenue back," Andrade said. "If you show the most improvement, you'll get the full 2%."
The focus on infant mortality also carries an equity dimension. Racial disparities in outcomes make the issue particularly urgent.
"When you see even the racial disparities in infant mortality rates, it's kind of shocking," Andrade said. "But again, you see opportunities to bend that curve."
VOUCHER LOGJAM Florida Senate Bill 318 aims to fix serious accountability gaps in the state's school voucher program, but it remains stalled in the House, and Sen. Don Gaetz isn't happy about it.
Gaetz, who has championed voucher reform for two years, said the House appears unwilling to touch the bill despite documented evidence of widespread financial mismanagement in Florida's scholarship programs.
The current system bundles public school district appropriations with state payments for private school and homeschool students, a setup the senator says has shortchanged public schools by $100 million, left homeschool parents waiting months for reimbursements and under-funded schools serving students with disabilities.
Florida's Auditor General has flagged a critical flaw: public school and voucher funding streams are being commingled in ways that make it nearly impossible to determine how taxpayer money is being spent, or even who it is being spent on. Duplicate enrollments, where students are counted in both the public school system and the scholarship program, have also been a persistent problem.
The Florida Department of Education recently claimed it has made operational improvements to reduce duplicate enrollments, a concession Gaetz acknowledged but said falls well short of genuine reform.
"It still doesn't get to the heart of the problem as identified by the auditor," Gaetz told In-
The American Creosote Works operated a wood-treating plant in the Sanders Beach area from 1902 until it closed and went bankrupt in 1981.
CRA Director Victoria D'Angelo told the board that the EPA's remediation plan is divided into two phases. Phase 1 includes residential soil cleanup, installation of an underground barrier wall and capping of contaminated soil onsite, but its budget is short $8.6 million needed. Phase 2, a thermal extraction process to remove creosote from the groundwater, is not funded at all.
EPA Remedial Project Manager Peter Thorpe, joining remotely, said residential cleanup could begin this summer if the timeline holds. Contractors will walk the neighborhood next week, the Army Corps of Engineers will accept bids in March and a contract could be awarded by May. Thorpe estimated the residential work would take approximately six months.
He also disclosed that Escambia County's landfill has tentatively agreed to accept contaminated residential soil as daily cover, a development that could reduce the height and footprint of the containment cap originally estimated at more than 20 feet on its western side.
Councilmember Jennifer Brahier questioned how $100,000 the CRA allocated in October 2022 for site acquisition has been spent. D'Angelo confirmed that roughly $60,000 has gone toward appraisals, title work and site condition reviews, not toward purchasing the property, which is divided among six private owners.
Mayor D.C. Reeves said he has met twice with EPA leadership in Washington over the past 90 days and has secured letters of support from Florida's U.S. senators. A third meeting is being scheduled. Reeves acknowledged the complexity of acquiring contaminated property but said closing the funding gap is the immediate priority.
"Nothing's going to happen if we don't get this $8.6 million delta taken care of," Reeves said.
Thorpe offered some reassurance that Phase 1 can be completed independently, allowing the site to function as a park even before Phase 2 is
Photo Courtesy of SailGP
funded. The 2025 Westside Redevelopment Plan envisions a natural park with walking paths, shade trees and community event space.
LAND CODE UPDATE
In February 2025, Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves launched a two-year initiative to update the city's Land Development Code (LDC), which sets the standards for land use and development in the City, covering a wide range of topics such as zoning, building regulations, parking and signage.
City Administrator David Stafford told reporters last week that the final open house held on Feb. 17 drew significant public turnout, with Stafford and multiple city staff members on hand to review the latest revisions.
"I want to thank our staff, who's worked diligently on this process," Stafford said, noting that the rewrite represents the first comprehensive review of the city's land development code in 79 years.
The consultants from Inspire Placemaking will compile a summary of public feedback. The next step is a full workshop before the Planning Board on April 7, where the consultants will make a formal presentation. The goal is for the Planning Board to deliver a recommendation this summer, with a draft for adoption going to the Pensacola City Council in August.
Housing flexibility emerged as a dominant theme throughout the public input process. Participants supported expanding "missing middle" housing—duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes and small multifamily buildings—into some singlefamily and low-density districts. However, residents insisted on strong design standards to prevent new construction from looking monolithic or out of scale with surrounding homes.
Accessory dwelling units drew significant attention, with multiple commenters pushing the city to relax current size restrictions that limit ADUs to 60% of the primary home, reconsider rear-yard limitations and adjust setbacks for larger lots. Several participants also questioned the code's definition of "family," which caps households at six individuals.
Historic neighborhood residents from North Hill and East Hill called for stronger preservation tools, including a clearer designation process for historically significant properties and better protections against demolition. Architectural Review Board members noted that existing height and coverage standards can actually make it harder to replicate traditional architectural styles like Victorian homes, forcing repeated variance requests. Participants suggested incentives such as reduced permit fees for rehabilitating buildings over 100 years old.
Stormwater policy exposed tensions between resilience advocates and the building community. Residents questioned exemptions for triplexes and quadplexes from stormwater plan requirements, while builders warned that mandatory grading and drainage plans for single-family homes could add roughly $5,000 per residence and slow the permitting process.
To learn more about the LDC initiative, visit inspire-engagement.com/pensacola-ldc.
UWF CENTER ADDS TWO LETTERS The University of West Florida has officially rebranded and expanded its Center for Cybersecurity into the UWF Center for Cybersecurity and AI. University President Manny Diaz Jr. framed the expansion as a direct response to the growing intersection of artificial intelligence and digital security in the modern workforce.
"By integrating artificial intelligence research and training into the Center, UWF is equipping the present and future workforce with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in today's increasingly AI-driven digital economy," Diaz said in a statement.
The move formally merges AI education and research into UWF's existing cybersecurity infrastructure. The center offers industry-recognized AI and cybersecurity certifications and the nation's first National Centers of Academic Excellence-approved Cyber-AI Program of Study.
"The future of AI and cybersecurity depends on people," said Dr. Eman El-Sheikh, associate vice president of the Center for Cybersecurity and AI. "Through this expansion, UWF is strengthening its national leadership and global impact by developing the talent, research and partnerships needed to prepare an AI-enabled workforce and secure the intelligent systems shaping our future."
More information is available at uwf.edu/cyberai.
ANOTHER SURVEY
The City of Pensacola's annual resident satisfaction survey is available online, inviting city residents to share feedback on initiatives, economic growth, Local Option Sales Tax, parking revenue, public safety, infrastructure and city departments.
City residents are encouraged to participate in the survey and provide valuable feedback on city services and priorities. Surveys can been taken online at uwf.edu/haasresidentsurvey or by phone, (850) 495-2666, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
The survey deadline is Tuesday, March 31. It asks residents about their satisfaction with a variety of city services and initiatives, including sidewalks, neighborhood safety and more, prompting participants to rank their top priorities for the City of Pensacola.
"This administration remains committed to being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and making decisions that align with the needs of our residents and strengthen our economy," Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said. "As we continue following the roadmap set forth in our citywide strategic plan, the Resident Satisfaction Survey is a critical tool that allows us to continue gathering data and track resident needs and priorities."
The city's annual survey is being conducted by the University of West Florida Haas Center. All data obtained from participants will be kept confidential and reported only in an aggregate format. Individual results will not be reported.
Only residents within the City of Pensacola limits may complete the survey. Responses will be used to help the city balance priorities and improve services to maintain a high quality of life for Pensacola residents. {in}
march
3–9 3–9 tickets now on sale!
2013 HONOREES
Robert Hill
Quint Studer
Bentina Terry
Roderick Bennett MD, MBA
Alexa Canady-Davis MD
Lonnie D. Wesley III
Rana’ Marti
2014 HONOREES
Shirley Cronley
Gloria Clay
Grover Fields
Dr. Tara Gonzales
Cecily McLeod
Rick Outzen
Sue Straugh
2015 HONOREES
John Peacock
Captain Keith Hoskins
Dr. Ezra Merritt
Mamie Hixon
Aaron Watson, Esq.
Terry Levin
Jessica Lee
2016 HONOREES
Dick Appleyard
Robin & Lloyd Reshard
David & Belle Bear
Fred Levin, Esq
Fred Robbins
Linda Moorer (Sonshine)
David Hawkins
2017 HONOREES
Dr. Joyce Hopson
Troy Rafferty
Ronnie Cole
Harry & Evan Levin
Kevin Mair
LaRuby May
Dan Shugart
2018 HONOREES
Willie Kirkland
Janet Pilcher
Georgia Blackmon
Eddie Todd Jr.
Aaron Ball
Tia & Fred Robbins
Mark Faulkner
JT Young
Living The Dream
is Pensacola’s signature event for celebrating Dr. King’s legacy and a commitment to diversity and progressive leadership that promotes a more cohesive community. The 2026 Living the Dream Pensacola gala, held Saturday, January 17, at the Brownsville Community Center, celebrated local leaders embodying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of service, unity, and community impact through a “Soulful Motown Night” tribute.
Distinguished 2026 Honorees
special teams. Honored for returning home to mentor youth and inspire resilience in his community.
Community advocate recognized for dedicated service and positive local impact. Celebrated alongside fellow honorees for advancing unity and uplifting Pensacola through her contributions.
LEROY WILLIAMS
Founder and president of the Pensacola Community Arts & Recreation Association (PCARA) since 1987. He has led youth mentorship, arts programs, tutoring, and violence-prevention initiatives, earning praise for decades of empowering young people and fostering community cohesion.
VIRGINIA BUCHANAN
Shareholder and senior litigator at Levin Papantonio in Pensacola. A top-rated personal injury attorney with over $500 million in verdicts/settlements, she was awarded the Community Service Award for her pro bono work, legal clinics, volunteering (e.g., Habitat for Humanity), and commitment to justice and civic engagement.
ELIZABETH EUBANKS
Lead Gardener and steward of From the Ground Up Community Garden in Pensacola. She has transformed the urban space under Interstate-110 into a vibrant hub for community building, sustainability, education, local art installations, live music, grief support programs, and healing initiatives.
philanthropists are honored for em bodying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy through service, generosity, and leadership. By promoting financial literacy, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and encouragement, they uplift others, spread genuine joy, and inspire positive change across Pensacola and beyond.
ROBERT HILL
Longtime owner of WRNE radio station and influential media figure in Pensacola. Received the Special Legacy Award for his enduring voice in local issues, community engagement, and leadership that has shaped the area’s public dialogue.
FRED LEVIN WAY
Legendary Pensacola attorney, philanthropist, and civic leader whose legacy of generosity, community support, and service continues through the Fred Levin Way Festival and Foundation.
Accepting the award on his behalf: Brenton Goodman, Martin Levin and Marci & Ross Goodman.
STUDER
FAMILY OF COMPANIES
ASHLEY ARMSTRONG
Pensacola attorney and justice advocate. Dedicated to equity, community leadership, and empowering the next generation through purpose-driven service and truth-speaking, in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream.
5Eleven • Blue Wahoos • Bodacious Shops • Bodacious Bookstore Bodacious Brew Thru • Bubba’s Sweet Spot • Oyster Bay • Studer Properties
Submit your shout out: info@quintstuder.com
2019 HONOREES
Shirley Henderson
Dr. Marcus Paul
Jennifer Grove
Bryan Freeman
Scott Remington
Harold Griffin Jr.
Dr. Martha Saunders
Michelle Snow
2020 HONOREES
Clara Harris
Cindi Bear Bonner
John Powell
Jean Pierre
Micah Roland
Sandra Donaldson
Madrina Ciano
Eric Stevenson
2021 HONOREES
Coach Raymond Palmer
Harold Dawson
Sena Maddison
Fred Gant, Esq
Michelle Grier-Hall MD
Walker Wilson
Lisa Nellessen Savage
Donna Curry Ph.D.
Jesse and Dannie Sangfield
Mike Papantonio
2022 HONOREES
Postponed due to COVID-19
2023 HONOREES
H.K. Matthews
Elizabeth Eckford
Fannie Finkley
Celestine Lewis
John Chandler
John Albritton
Bruce Partington
Chandra Smiley
Grace McCaffery
Kevin Robinson
2024 HONOREES
Capt Cedrick Jessup
Taxie Lambert
Bobby Watkins
Ronnie Rivera
Derrick Brooks
Fredrick Longmire
Kim & Julian MacQueen
Elanor Washington
2025 HONOREES
Kim Adams ESQ
Dr. Joy Powell
Whitney Lucas
Barbara Hayes
Chief Eric Randall
Roy Jones Jr
Changing a life starts with
Foster parents provide loving homes to some of the most vulnerable in our community, including children with complex conditions, as well as adults with intellectual disabilities and other special needs.
When you become a foster parent through Lakeview Center – Northwest Florida’s leader in behavioral health care – you have the support of our specialized team alongside you on this rewarding journey.
SPRING FORWARD
T hings to See, Hear & Do this Season
Spring doesn't officially start until March 20, but the energy starts much earlier.
From festivals to music performances to sporting events, March and April host a range of happenings that will put you in the spring spirit. So, sometime between the dreaded tasks of filing your taxes and undertaking spring cleaning, add a few of these local events into your downtime.
FESTIVAL VIBES
Upcoming music & food festivals
West Florida Fire & Nature Festival
March 7 facebook.com/thelongleafalliance
Kites on the Coast
March 13-15 facebook.com/coawfla/events
Books By the Bay March 28 facebook.com/booksbythebayfestival
Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts March 28-29 gulfbreezearts.com/festival
Fred Levin Way Fest April 12 fredlevinfest.com
Pensacola Beach Crawfish Festival April 17-19 facebook.com/bamboo.willies/events
Earth Day Pensacola April 18 earthdaypensacola.com
Pensacola Crawfish Festival April 24-26 fiestapensacola.org/crawfish-festival
MAKE A HABIT OF IT
Reoccurring events worth making a regular thing
Gallery Night
Every third Friday gallerynightpensacola.org
February 26, 2026
Palafox Market
Every Saturday palafoxmarket.com
Gary's VegFest
Every second Sunday March-May, beginning March 8 facebook.com/garysbrew
Cinemas in the Sand
Select Friday nights March through October, beginning March 13 visitpensacolabeach.com/cinemas-in-the-sand
Bands on the Beach
Every Tuesday beginning April 7 visitpensacolabeach.com/whats-happening-bandson-beach
Pensacola Arts Market
Every second and fourth Saturday at Mathieson Brewing Co. Every first Friday and third Sunday at Gary's Brewery & Biergarten facebook.com/pensacolaartsmarket
ONE CHANCE
A few more standout spring events to mark on your calendar
30th Anniversary of Pensacola Hockey celebration at the Ice Flyers Game Feb. 28 iceflyers.com
Tape B Feb. 28 thehandlebar850.com
Gulf Coast Renaissance Faire in Pensacola Feb. 28-March 1 and March 7-8 gcrf.us
Ballet Pensacola's "A Night of Four Seasons" March 1 balletpensacola.org
Shorty Gras Tour 2026 with Trombone
Shorty & Orleans Avenue March 3 pensacolasaenger.com
Sun Belt Conference
Basketball Championship March 3-9 visitpensacola.com/sunbelt
Chef Showcase 2026 March 6 pensacoladreamcenter.org
McGuire's St. Patrick's Day Prediction 5K Run March 7 mcguiresirishpub.com
Pensacola Symphony Orchestra presents Mahler Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection" March 7 pensacolasymphony.com
Shwayze March 10 thehandlebar850.com
Pensacola Opera presents Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" March 13 and 15 pensacolaopera.com
Waterboyz Surf Classic March 14 waterboyz.com
Small Dog Race Night at the Ice Flyers Game March 14 iceflyers.com
CUBED 2026 Live Painting Event March 14 pensacolamuseum.org
Pensacola Beach St. Paddy's Day
Pub Crawl March 17 pensacolabeachchamber.com
Rakim March 20 vinylmusichall.com
Pensacola Symphony Orchestra in the Park March 22 pensacolasymphony.com
Pensacola Little Theatre's "Cabaret: A Storybook Soirée" March 28 pensacolalittletheatre.com
Carlos Santana April 1 pensacolabaycenter.com
Blue Wahoos Home Opener April 3 bluewahoos.com
Fantasia & Anthony Hamilton April 3 pensacolabaycenter.com
Broadway in Pensacola presents "Mrs. Doubtfire" April 7-8 pensacolasaenger.com
Jim Gaffigan April 16 pensacolabaycenter.com
Ballet Pensacola's "Romeo and Juliet" April 16-19 balletpensacola.org
Ani DiFranco April 25 vinylmusichall.com
Pensacola Symphony Orchestra's 100th Anniversary Gala Concert April 25 pensacolasymphony.com {in}
Arts & Entertainment
A Poet for Troubled Times
book of poems. The Nazis weren't handing out notebooks and pens, so he was using scraps and writing with dirt, but he knew that in order to survive, he had to have his poet's tools of observation at their absolute peak. He began studying the guards to understand how they were protecting themselves from the horrible, evil things that they were doing to the prisoners. One day, the guards arrived with a truck and loaded Desnos and his fellow inmates onto it. They were being driven to the gas chambers to be killed. Desnos, who was also a palm reader, jumped off the truck and began reading his fellow inmates' hands, focusing on the life line. In German, for the guards' benefit, [Desnos] explained the amazing future ahead of [the inmates]—reunited with loved ones. He told beautiful stories about their futures, which made the guards angry, then confused, but he wouldn't stop. Then the guards became zombies, unable to kill the people Desnos had so carefully and fully humanized for them. They couldn't kill these people, so they loaded them back onto the truck and sent them back to their barracks. Several weeks later, the allied forces liberated the camp, and everyone Desnos saved that day was still alive. For over 80 years, we have heard survivors' stories about the poet who found a way to save their lives without a single bullet being fired. That is a story about the true power of creativity for everyone to remember.
The loss of loved ones comes up often in your poetry. Would you mind talking about how loss inspires your work?
Foundation in Chicago to write essays. It was the perfect opportunity to write about AIDS. For years, I had wanted to write about those dear friends, but it was too difficult. The fact is, I only focused on a few friends because there were so many. I have a group of gay male friends in Los Angeles, and we're all the same age. They have all had plastic surgery, Botox, filler, etc., and asked me last year to tell people when we're in public that I'm older. It was almost like an intervention before we all left for dinner together. I said, 'But don't you realize how many people we all loved who died when we were still young and never got to experience the magic of aging with our bodies?' They were not moved by my speech, but I also said to them that they are delusional for thinking they look younger than me. They look odd, not young. I'm so sick of this hatred of aging bodies that Hollywood has instilled in the world.
INWEEKLY: How has your stay at 309 been?
CONRAD: I'm working on a series of poems where I write while watching the sunrise. Later in the day, I watch sunrise again somewhere else on the planet with outdoor public webcams. 309 is one of my favorite places where I have been writing, and I feel fortunate to have the entire month of February here.
INWEEKLY: What do you plan to do for your closing event?
I meet in this city remind me of my friends in Louisiana in the best possible way—kind, generous, interested in sharing stories and experiences. Long live Pensacola.
INWEEKLY: You've been writing for quite some time. Do you remember when you first started writing poetry?
CONRAD: Believe it or not, I know the exact date—March 30, 1975. We were very poor, and my mother would shoplift food for us and sometimes got caught. No one would hire her,
INWEEKLY: Fast forward fifty years, we're living in very interesting times. What do you think is the role of the poet in times like these?
CONRAD: Artists of all kinds need to encourage everyone to find their own creativity. The imagination will find the solutions for each step ahead of us.
I think of poets like Robert Desnos, who joined the French Resistance during WWII when the Nazis invaded Paris. When he was captured and sent to Auschwitz, he began writing a new
I lost half of everyone I knew and loved to AIDS in the 1980s and 90s. One of the things that doesn't get talked about is the amount of work there was to do with so many friends unable to go to the grocery store, doing dishes, taking out trash, you name it. The other thing that doesn't get talked about is that 95% of all the heterosexuals abandoned us. We were never more isolated than in those early years of the AIDS crisis. A recent New York Times article about GenX talked about AIDS as this pesky thing to navigate when trying to have sex and have fun, completely ignoring the GenX queers who were living and dying at the time, as well as those of us who were busy trying to save lives while the straight world was trying to figure out how to avoid queers and still have fun.
INWEEKLY: Your most recent book "Sin Bug" covers similar themes. Can you tell me more about this book?
CONRAD: I'm a poet, and writing prose is not interesting to me, but I was invited by The Poetry
CONRAD: I want to give everyone rituals for the artist practices. I've been writing poetry for over 50 years, and 95% of the artists I've known have stopped making art. I want to give everyone who shows up a couple of rituals to keep them going, because creativity is for survivors, and we need everyone on top of their artistic skills, now more than ever. It's the creative people who figure out how to live and survive when everything seems impossible. So I want to begin the event with this, then share images of the crows, coyotes and other animals I worked with to write my new book, "Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return." I will end by sharing what I have been working on here in Pensacola. {in}
CA CONRAD AT 309 PUNK PROJECT
WHAT: Closing exhibition event featuring a ritual party, tarot and poetry
WHEN: 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28
WHERE: 309 Punk Project, 309 N. Sixth Ave.
COST: Free
DETAILS: 309punkproject.org, caconrad.com
CA Conrad / Photo by Sarah White
a&e happenings
NONPROFITS & FUNDRAISERS
ANIMAL ALLIES FLORIDA BINGO Animal Allies Florida hosts bingo twice monthly at Beef 'O' Brady's, 1 New Market St., Cantonment (on Nine Mile Road near Pine Forest Road). The cost is 10 rounds of bingo for $10, with cash prizes for winners. Food and drinks are also available for purchase. For more information, visit facebook.com/animalalliesflorida.
ANIMAL ALLIES CAT AND KITTEN ADOP -
TION Visit Pet Supermarket 11 a.m.-3 p.m. every first and third Saturday of the month at 6857 N. Ninth Ave. to meet your furever friend. Visit aaflorida.org for details.
CARING & SHARING MINISTRY FOOD
DRIVE The Gloria Green Caring & Sharing Ministry is attached to the Historic St. Joseph Catholic Church, 140 W. Government St. The ministry feeds the homeless 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays. The ministry's food pantry opens 10 a.m. and also has clothing. Food donations needed are pop-top canned goods, Beanie Weenies, Vienna sausage, potted meat, cans of tuna and chicken and soups. Clothing donations needed include tennis shoes for men and women, as well as sweatshirts and new underwear for men in sizes small, medium and large. Call DeeDee Green at (850) 723-3390 for details.
ARTS & CULTURE
FEBRUARY BOOK CLUB: FIRST TIME CALL-
ER Visit Coastal Cat Café and chat about "First Time Caller" while cuddling adoptable kitties. This book club discussion is for ages 18 and over. Event is 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26. Cost is $20. Details at coastalcatpcola.com.
HOT GLASS COLD BREW: 70S EDITION First City Art's next Hot Glass Cold Brew is 5-9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27 at 1060 N. Guillemard St. Tick-
ets are $30 for members and $40 for non-members and includes a handmade artisan glass or ceramic cup and two complimentary craft beers or wine for ages 21 and up. Get tickets at firstcityart.org.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY BY INTERNATIONAL BALLET
STARS Performance is 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27 at Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox St. Details and tickets at pensacolasaenger.com.
COACHELLA DANCE PAR -
TY Visit Dorothy's, 309 S. Reus St. for a dance party 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday, Feb. 27. Visit dorothyspensacola.com for details.
TAPE B PRE-PARTY DJS DJ
set 6 p.m.-12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at Dorothy's, 309 S. Reus St. Visit dorothyspensacola.com for details.
A NIGHT OF FOUR SEASONS Ballet Pensacola fundraiser featuring brand-new work by Company Director Veronica Ramirez, inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons, performed with live musical accompaniment. Event is 7 p.m. Sunday, March 1 at the Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox St. Tickets available on ticketmaster.com. VIP upgrades available.
MORNINGS AT THE MUSEUM: JERUSALEM National Aviation Museum presents "Jerusalem" on the Giant Screen Theatre. The film explores Jerusalem through perspectives of three teenagers from different faiths. Presentation is 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 3 at the Museum, located at 1750 Radford Blvd., Ste. B. Details at navalaviationmuseum.org.
UWF SELIGMAN LECTURE The 2026 Seligman Lecture will welcome political theorist and historian Dr. Jay Cost for an evening lecture on the First Amendment and its enduring role in the American pursuit of happiness. The lecture is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 at the Museum of Commerce, 201 E. Zaragoza St. A book signing will follow the lecture. Register at uwf.edu/cassh/ community-outreach/seligman-first-amendment-lecture-series.
GALLERY TALKS: OKLAHOMA! Enjoy a short performance and lecture from Pensacola Opera 11 a.m. Saturday, March 7 at the Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. Details at pensacolaopera.com/events.
GARDEN PARTY AT QUAYSIDE GALLERY Exhibit featuring artists Ellen Holland Manual Rivas at Quayside Gallery, 17 E. Zaragoza St. On view through March 30. Details at quaysidegallery.com.
LONG AFTER DARK: STORIES WITHIN THE COLLECTION Curated for this exhibition are pieces that form a visual chronicle of place, history, culture and community. It is on view through
March 8 at Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. Visit pensacolamuseum.org for details.
FABULOUS FORGERIES Artel Gallery's current show "Fabulous Forgeries" is on view through March 27. Featured artists: Carlotta Succi, SN Dabson, Marjorie Kitchen and The Paint Out Artist Group. Located at 223 S. Palafox St. For more details visit artelgallery.org.
MICHELLE JONES: SEVEN SISTERS Inspired by Greek mythology and the jungle-like landscape of the Gulf Coast, Michelle Jones presents lush, vividly colored landscapes using mixed media. Exhibit is on display through May 1 at the Switzer Gallery at Pensacola State College, 1000 College Blvd. Details are at visualarts.pensacolastate.edu.
THRIFT STYLE This new exhibit at Pensacola Museum of History explores the reuse of feed sacks to make clothing and other household objects. View the exhibit and explore the museum, 330 S. Jefferson St. Details are at historicpensacola.org.
FIRST FRIDAY AT BLUE MORNING GALLERY Visit Blue Morning Gallery, 21 S. Palafox St., 5:30 p.m. every first Friday of the month for a reception with wine, live music and occasional artist demonstrations. Visit bluemorninggallery.com for details.
PENSACOLA HERITAGE FOUNDATION
LECTURES Learn Pensacola and Northwest Florida history through interesting, informal lectures every other Tuesday at The Wright Place, 80 E. Wright St. Doors open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. The lecture starts at noon and lasts one hour. Lecture cost is $5 for non-members and is free to members. Lunches are $12. For reservations, call (850) 380-7759.
PENSACOLA ROSE SOCIETY Monthly meetings are normally 6 p.m. the second Monday of the month at the Pensacola Garden Center, 1850 N. Ninth Ave. Visit pensacolarosesociety.org for more information.
BTB COMEDY Watch live stand-up comedy in open mic style 7 p.m. Mondays at Odd Colony, 260 N. Palafox St. Follow BTB Comedy on Facebook for updates.
SCRIPTEASERS Join writers at Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St., for Scripteasers every month. Visit pensacolalittletheatre.com for details.
PENSACOLA CINEMA ART FILM
SCREENINGS Pensacola Cinema Art screens multiple films most weekends at 220 W. Garden St. Tickets are $10, and payment is cash only. Visit pensacolacinemaart.com for their complete schedule.
PALAFOX MARKET Palafox Market is 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays. The event features local farmers, artists and crafters on North and South Palafox streets at Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza and Plaza Ferdinand. For updates, visit facebook.com/ downtownpensacola.
CABARET DRAG SHOWCASE AT AMERICAN LEGION POST #193 Don't miss Cabaret Drag Showcase every second and fourth Saturday at the American Legion Post #193, 2708 N. 12th Ave. Doors open 8 p.m. Showtime is 10 p.m. For more information, contact show director Taize Sinclair-Santi at taizesinclairsanti@gmail.com.
SPIRITS OF SEVILLE QUARTER GHOST TOUR AND LUNCHEON Dine inside Pensacola's oldest and most haunted restaurant and investigate the spirits with actual paranormal equipment at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. Tickets are $12 and include a voucher toward Seville Quarter's menu. Tours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays and 2-4 p.m. Sundays. Make an appointment by calling (850) 941-4321.
AFTER DARK: SEVILLE QUARTER GHOSTS, MURDER, MAYHEM AND MYSTERY TOUR AND DINNER After Dark Paranormal Investigation and Dinner happens inside one of Pensacola's most haunted restaurants with real ghost-hunting equipment 6-8 p.m. Sundays. Listen as your guide weaves tales of ghosts, debauchery, murder, mayhem, paranormal activities, history and more related to Seville Quarter and downtown Historic Pensacola. After your ghost tour, enjoy dinner at Seville Quarter Palace Café, 130 E. Government St. Reservations are required. Call (850) 941-4321. Tickets are available at pensacolaghostevents.com.
FOOD + DRINKS
SIR RICHARD'S OYSTER BASH Sir Richard's Public House, located at 2719 E. Cervantes St., will host its inaugural Oyster Bash 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27. Oysters will be available in both half dozen and dozen quantities with featured cocktails and beers on draft. More information at sirrichardslounge.com.
EVERYTHING: CHOCOLATE Cooking class is 6-9 p.m. Friday Feb. 27 at Pensacola Cooks Classroom, 4051 Barrancas Ave., Ste. C. Sign up at: pensacolacooks.com/classes-and-event.
THE DINNER DETECTIVE TRUE CRIME MURDER MYSTERY Dinner and theatre show 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at Hilton Garden Inn, 8 S. Ninth Ave. Details and tickets at thedinnerdetective.com.
THE RAQ ROOM REVUE An evening of music and movement with bellydance artists and themed cocktails 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at The Well, 42 E. Garden St. Details at facebook.com/ thewellpensacola.
RAMEN + HIP HOP NIGHT Ramen and hip hop night 5-9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at Odd Colony, 260 N. Palafox St. Details at facebook.com/oddcolony.
ATLAS BEVERAGE CLASS The next Atlas Beverage Class is 5 and 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5 with Asesinato Tequila. Cost is $30 per person. Reservations are required. Call (850) 287-0200 or email taylor@goodgrits.com for tickets.
CHEF SHOWCASE 2026 Chef showcase 2026 will take place 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 6
a&e happenings
at the Sanders Beach Ballroom, located at 913 South I St. Event is a semi-formal evening featuring 18 of Pensacola's top chefs, each presenting signature tastings for guests to enjoy. Tickets are $75 per person benefitting Pensacola Dream Center ministries. For details, visit pensacoladreamcenter.org.
CULTURES COOK: AUTHENTIC INDIAN Cooking class is 6-9 p.m. Friday, March 6 at Pensacola Cooks Classroom, 4051 Barrancas Avenue, Ste. C. Sign up at pensacolacooks.com/classesand-events.
FUNDAMENTALS: SUSHI SKILLS Cooking class is 6-8 p.m. Saturday, March 7 at Pensacola Cooks Classroom, 4051 Barrancas Avenue, Ste. C. Sign up at pensacolacooks.com/classes-and-events.
EIGHTH ANNUAL GIRL SCOUT COOKIE AND CRAFT BEER OR WINE PAIRING Taste four beers or wine paired with four Girl Scout cookies 1 p.m. Saturday, March 7 at Gary's Brewery, 208 Newman Ave. Tickets are $20 plus fees and available at Eventbrite.com. Details at facebook.com/garysbrew.
VEGFEST AT GARY'S BREWERY Vegan food trucks, live music, vendors and more every second Sunday from 12-5 p.m. through May 12 at Gary's Brewery, 208 Newman Ave. Details at facebook.com/garysbrew.
DOWNTOWN HAPPY HOUR AT SEVILLE QUARTER Drink specials and laidback vibes are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. every weekday throughout the entire Seville Quarter complex with $2 off all liquor drinks and $1 off all beer and wine. Must be 21 or older. Visit sevillequarter.com for details.
MARTINI MONDAYS AT DOROTHY'S Martini menu with specialty prices at Dorothy's, 309 S. Reus St. Visit dorothyspensacola.com for details.
MEN'S NIGHT AT WISTERIA From 3 p.m. to close Mondays, guys can play free darts and enjoy $6 craft tallboys. There are more than 150 craft beers to choose from at Wisteria, 3803 N. 12th Ave. Visit wisteriatavern.com for details.
BAR BINGO AT SEVILLE QUARTER Bar Bingo is 8 p.m. Mondays at Apple Annie's at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. Drink specials include $2.50 Miller Lite bottles and $3.50 bomb shots. Bingo is free to play with prizes, giveaways and bar tabs up for grabs for winners. Visit sevillequarter.com for details.
FIGHTER GAME NIGHT AT O'RILEY'S Gamers unite 5 p.m.-close Mondays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
BINGO NIGHT AT CALVERT'S IN THE HEIGHTS
Play a game (or two) of bingo 6-8 p.m. Mondays at Calvert's in the Heights, 670 Scenic Highway. For more information, visit calvertsintheheights.com.
MONDAY NIGHT SPAGHETTI SESSIONS
Visit V. Paul's Italian Ristorante, 29 S. Palafox St.,
5–9 p.m. Mondays for live music and spaghetti and meatballs from the Monday night menu.
DOUBLE MONDAYS AND SIN NIGHT Enjoy Double Mondays 8 p.m.-midnight and SIN Night 11 p.m. to close at O'Riley's Tavern, 3728 Creighton Road. Details are at orileystavern.com.
MARTINI NIGHT AT THE KENNEDY Every Tuesday, The Kennedy, 1 S. Palafox St., hosts Martini Night, featuring all martinis from the menu for $10 from open to close (4-11 p.m.).
TRIVIA AT DOROTHY'S Play trivia 8 p.m. Tuesdays at Dorothy's, 309 S. Reus St. It's free to play, and prizes are up for grabs. Visit dorothyspensacola.com for details.
75-CENT OYSTERS AT ATLAS Enjoy 75-cent oysters 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays at Atlas Oyster House, 600 S. Barracks St. For more information, visit greatsouthernrestaurants.com.
MUSIC BINGO Test your music knowledge 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays at Wisteria, 3808 N. 12th Ave. Take part in half-price bottles of wine and $5 canned cocktails. Visit wisteriatavern.com for details.
POKER NIGHT AND BINGO AT O'RILEY'S Visit O'Riley's Irish Pub for poker at 6:30 p.m. and bar bingo 8-10 p.m. Tacos are on special Tuesdays at 321 S. Palafox St. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
LUNCH AT THE DISTRICT The District Steakhouse, 130 E. Government St., is open for special lunch seatings the third Friday of the month. Enjoy a $5 martini or house wine. Seatings are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Reservations are accepted but not necessary. Details are available at districtsteaks.com.
DOLLAR NIGHT Enjoy Dollar Night 8 p.m.midnight Tuesdays at Mugs & Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway. Visit mugsjugsbar.com for details.
TUESDAY TRIVIA AT PERFECT PLAIN Visit Perfect Plain Brewing Co. for trivia nights 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays at 50 E. Garden St. Visit perfectplain.com/upcoming-events for details.
SERVICE INDUSTRY NIGHT AT DOROTHY'S Reverse happy hour from 9 p.m.-midnight with other specials Wednesdays at Dorothy's, 309 S. Reus St. Visit dorothyspensacola.com for details.
LATIN NIGHT AT SEVILLE QUARTER Get on your feet with a social Latin dance—no partner required—and Latin music 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays at Phineas Phogg's in Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. Drink specials and music from DJ DavidC continue after the dancing. Details are at sevillequarter.com.
DOLLAR NIGHT AT O'RILEY'S Dollar Night is 8 p.m.-midnight Wednesdays at O'Riley's Tavern, 3728 Creighton Road. Food trucks are on site. Details are at orileystavern.com.
TRIVIA AT O'RILEY'S Test your trivia knowledge 8-10 p.m. Wednesdays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
a&e happenings
TRIVIA AT CALVERT'S IN THE HEIGHTS
Take part in trivia nights 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays at Calvert's in the Heights, 670 Scenic Highway. For more information, visit calvertsintheheights.com.
KARAOKE AT DOROTHY'S Karaoke begins 8 p.m. Thursdays at Dorothy's, 309 S. Reus St. Visit dorothyspensacola.com for details.
COLLEGE NIGHT AT SEVILLE QUARTER College night is 8 p.m. Thursdays at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. Ages 18 and older are welcome. Free beer pong tournament begins at 10 p.m. Drink specials include $2 bar drinks, $3.50 Fireball shots for ages 21 and older. Cover is $5 for ages 21 and older and $10 for ages 18-20. Details are at sevillequarter.com.
PITCHERS AND TAVERN TRIVIA Get deals on pitchers 8 p.m.-midnight at O'Riley's Tavern. Trivia is 8 p.m., and SIN Night starts 1 a.m. Thursdays at 3728 Creighton Road. Visit orileystavern.com for details.
WEEKLY SINGO AT PERFECT PLAIN BREWING CO. Music Bingo Thursdays is 7-9 p.m. at Perfect Plain Brewing Co., 50 E. Garden St. Details are at facebook.com/perfectplainbrewingco.
POOL TOURNAMENT Pool tournaments begin 8 p.m., and Tequila Night is 8 p.m. to midnight Thursdays at Mugs & Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway. Visit mugsjugsbar.com for details.
DOLLAR NIGHT AT O'RILEY'S Dollar Night with a DJ starts 8 p.m. Thursdays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
TRIVIA UNDER THE TREES Trivia is 6 p.m. Thursdays at Wisteria Tavern, 3808 N. 12th Ave. Visit wisteriatavern.com for details.
THURSDAY BIERGARTEN TRIVIA NIGHT
Gary's Brewery Trivia Night is back by popular demand 7-9 p.m. Thursdays at 208 Newman Ave. Test your trivia skills with a glass of beer or wine. Arrive early to grab a spot. For more information, visit facebook.com/garysbrew.
THEMED DANCE PARTIES Visit Dorothy's, 309 S. Reus St. Fridays for themed dance parties with DJ Brody P 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Visit dorothyspensacola.com for details.
FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR AT SEVILLE QUAR-
TER Visit Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St., on Fridays for cold drinks, hot food and great vibes in the End O' the Alley Courtyard at Seville Quarter. Happy hour begins 11 a.m. Fridays with drink and food specials.
SEVILLE QUARTER'S FLIP MY QUARTER
Seville Quarter is flipping the script—and a few quarters—with its brand-new happy hour promotion, Flip My Quarter, 6-8 p.m. Fridays throughout the Seville Quarter entertainment complex. When you order a domestic draft
beer, well liquor cocktail or house wine, tell the bartender to "flip my quarter." When they flip it, call it in the air. If you call it right, your drink is free.
BIG BEER NIGHT Drink specials are 8 p.m.-midnight, and SIN Night is 1 a.m. to close Fridays at Mugs & Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway. Visit mugsjugsbar.com for details.
FEISTY FRIDAY NIGHTS Enjoy a DJ 9 p.m. Fridays at Sir Richard's Public House, 2719 E. Cervantes St. Visit sirrichardslounge.com for details.
TGI FIREBALL FRIDAY Drink specials are all day Fridays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. SIN Night starts at 11 p.m. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
FISH FRY FRIDAY Half off fish n' chips is 11 a.m.4 p.m., and live DJ is 9 p.m. Fridays at Sir Richard's Public House, 2719 E. Cervantes St. Visit sirrichardslounge.com for details.
JAMESON SPECIAL Enjoy $5 Jameson Irish Whiskey all night Saturdays at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St.
MEMBERSHIP APPRECIATION NIGHT AT SEVILLE QUARTER From 8 p.m.-midnight Saturdays, members enjoy $3.50 Crown & Drown cocktails at Phineas Phogg's inside Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. Details are at sevillequarter.com.
WEEKLY SATURDAY BRUNCH Brunch is 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
SHAMROCK SATURDAY Shamrock Saturday is 9 p.m., and SIN Night starts 11 p.m. Saturdays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
B.A.R.E. NIGHT (BAR AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEE NIGHT) Sunday nights at Seville Quarter belong to hospitality industry. Head to End O' the Alley at Seville Quarter 7 p.m. Sundays for B.A.R.E. Night. Not a member yet? Stop by and sign up for your B.A.R.E. Card, and start enjoying the benefits immediately.
FREE POOL AND BAR BINGO AT O'RILEY'S TAVERN Enjoy free pool all day and play bar bingo 8 p.m. Sundays at O'Riley's Tavern, 3728 Creighton Road. Details are at orileystavern.com.
SUNDAY BRUNCH AT CAFÉ SINGLE FIN
Partake in brunch specials, full café menu, espressos and bottomless mimosas until 1 p.m. Sundays at Café Single Fin, 380 N. Ninth Ave. Live music begins at 10 a.m. Visit cafesinglefin.com for details.
SEVILLE SUNDAY BRUNCH Sunday brunch is 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Palace Café and Courtyard inside Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St., with soup and a salad bar, a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar, mimosas and champagne specials. Details are at sevillequarter.com.
a&e happenings
SUNDAY BILLIARDS Rack 'em up in Fast Eddie's Billiards Room at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St., with drink specials and a laidback, air-conditioned atmosphere.
SUNDAY BRUNCH AND KARAOKE O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St., hosts brunch 10 a.m.2 p.m. Sundays. Karaoke begins at 8 p.m. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
SUNDAY BRUNCH AT ATLAS OYSTER HOUSE Sunday Brunch is 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays at Atlas Oyster House, 600 S. Barracks St. View menus at atlasoysterhouse.com.
SIN NIGHT AT O'RILEY'S SIN Night is midnight to close Sundays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. Visit orileyspub.com for details.
KARAOKE AND SIN NIGHTS AT SIR RICHARD'S Karaoke is 9 p.m.-1 a.m., and SIN Night is 1 a.m. to close Mondays and Thursdays at Sir Richard's Public House, 2719 E. Cervantes St. Visit sirrichardslounge.com for details.
ON AIR LIVE BAND KARAOKE Live out your rockstar dreams 8 p.m. Tuesdays at Lili Marlene's in Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St., hosted by Craig Stahl. Details are at sevillequarter.com.
KARAOKE AT O'RILEY'S UPTOWN Karaoke is 8 p.m.-midnight Tuesdays at O'Riley's Uptown, 3728 Creighton Road. Visit orileystavern.com for details.
KARAOKE AT SEVILLE QUARTER Karaoke is nightly Wednesday-Sunday at Lili Marlene's in Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. Enjoy drink specials and a no-judgement zone, where everyone is welcome to the mic. Details are at sevillequarter.com.
KARAOKE AT THE HANDLEBAR Karaoke starts 9 p.m. Wednesdays at The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. Visit thehandlebar850.com for details.
KARAOKE AT WISTERIA Karaoke starts 7 p.m. Wednesdays at Wisteria Tavern, 3808 N. 12th Ave. Details are at wisteriatavern.com.
WHISKEY WEDNESDAY KARAOKE Karaoke starts 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Mugs & Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway. Visit mugsjugsbar.com for details.
SUNDAY KARAOKE WITH KJ NICK Sunday Funday karaoke is 8 p.m. Sundays at Lili Marlene's in Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St.
KARAOKE AT O'RILEY'S DOWNTOWN Karaoke is 8 p.m.-midnight Sundays at O'Riley's Irish Pub, 321 S. Palafox St. Details are at orileyspub.com.
KARAOKE AT MUGS & JUGS Karaoke is 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Sundays at Mugs & Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway. Visit mugsjugsbar.com for details.
LIVE MUSIC
OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS, TARCIL, ROTTED REMAINS AND BLOODRUSH Show starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24 at The Handlebar, 319
N. Tarragona St. More info available at thehandlebar850.com.
UWF SINGERS: A MUSICAL JOURNEY The UWF singers will perform 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts, 11000 University Parkway. The show is free, but tickets are required. For more information and reservations, visit uwf.edu/cfpa.
BRANTLEY GILBERT: THE TATTOOS
TOUR Country artists Brantley Gilbert, Travis Denning and Austin Snell perform 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 at Pensacola Bay Center, 201 E. Gregory St. Tickets and information at pensacolabaycenter.com.
MATTHEW LOGAN VASQUEZ Show is 7-10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 at Odd Colony, 260 N. Palafox St. Get the link to tickets at facebook.com/oddcolony.
PENSACOLA SONGWRITER ROUNDS SERIES FEATURING JACOB KYNARD, JAKE GOOBECK, ALEX HUEY, FRIENDSHIP STARSHIP AND HOST KATIE DINEEN
Show starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 at The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. More info available at thehandlebar850.com.
DEADLY FISTS OF KUNG FU, SAFETY TRAINING, PALMMEADOW AND LASEN-
TO Show starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27 at The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. More info available at thehandlebar850.com.
TAPE B Night Moves and Floored presents Tape B, What So Not, Saka x Fly and Casey Club at the Maritime Park starting at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28. Visit thehandlebar850.com for details and tickets.
EDDIE 9V FEATURING SOUTHERN MAG -
NOLIA Show starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb 28 at The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. More info available at thehandlebar850.com.
THE EMO NIGHT TOUR Show is 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox St. Tickets at vinylmusichall.com.
CHRISTOPHER PHIPPS Show starts at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 1 at The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. More info available at thehandlebar850.com.
UWF SYMPHONIC BAND The UWF Symphonic Band will perform 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 2 at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts, 11000 University Parkway. Tickets are free, but registration is required. Visit uwf.edu/cfpa for details.
TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVE-
NUE Show is 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 at Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox St. Details and tickets at pensacolasaenger.com.
TERROR, STRIKEFORCE AND SERRATED
FL Show starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 at The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. More info available at thehandlebar850.com.
free will astrology
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 26
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): In woodworking, "spalting" occurs when fungi colonize wood, creating dark lines and patterns that make the wood more valuable, not less. The decay creates beauty as long as it isn't allowed to progress too far. Here's the metaphorical moral of the story for you, Aries: what feels like a deteriorating situation might actually be spalting, Aries. Are you experiencing the breakdown of a routine, a certainty, or a plan? It could be creating a pattern that makes your story even more interesting and heroic. So keep in mind that an apparent decomposition may be transforming ordinary into extraordinary beauty. My advice is to play along with the spalting.
TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): I suspect you will soon be invited to explore novel feelings and unfamiliar states of awareness. As you wander in the psychological frontiers, you might experience mysterious phenomena like the following. 1. An overflow of reverence and awe. 2. Blissful surprise in the face of the sublime. 3. Sudden glimmers of eternity in fleeting moments. 4. A soft, golden resonance that arises when you hear arousing truths. 5. Amazingly useful questions that could tantalize and feed your imagination for months and even years to come.
I hope you will always trust your hunger for classiness even if others dismiss it as superficial.
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): If I were your mentor, I'd lead you up an ascending trail to a high peak where your vision is clear and vast. If I were your leader, I'd give you a medal for all the ways you've been brave when no one was looking, then send you on an all-expenses-paid sabbatical to a beautiful sanctuary to rest and remember yourself. If I were your therapist, I'd guide you through a 90-minute meditation on your entire life story up until now. But since I'm just your companion for this brief oracle, I will instead advise you to slip out of any silken snares of comfort that dull your spirit, cast off
By Rob Brezsny
perks and privileges that keep you small, and commune with influences that remind you of how deeply you treasure being alive.
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Biologist Barbara McClintock won the Nobel Prize by developing what she called "a feeling for the organism." She cultivated an intimate, almost empathic relationship with the corn plants she studied. She didn't impose theories on her subjects. She listened to them until she could sense their hidden patterns from the inside. When you're not lost in self-protection, you Cancerians excel at this quality of attention. Here's what I see as your task in the coming weeks: transfer your empathic genius away from people who drain you and toward projects, places or problems that deserve your devotion and give you blessings in return.
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Sufi writers describe heartbreak, grief and longing as portals through which divine love enters. They say that a highly defended ego and a hardened heart can't engage with such profound and potent love. In this view, suffering that makes the heart ache strips away illusions and fixations, allowing greater receptivity, humility and tenderness toward all beings. I'm not expecting you to get blasted by an influx of poignancy in the near future, Leo, but I'm very sure you have experienced such blasts in the past. And now is an excellent time to process those old breakthroughs disguised as breakdowns. You are likely to finally be able to harvest the full power they offered you.
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): In traditional Balinese culture, Tri Hita Karana is a concept that means there are three causes of well-being: harmony with God, harmony with people, and harmony with nature. When one is out of balance, all suffer. I'm wondering if you would benefit from meditating on this theme now, Virgo. Have you been focused on one dimension at the expense of the others? Are you, perhaps, spiritually nourished but socially isolated? Or maybe you're maintaining relationships but ignoring your body's connection to the earth? Here's your assignment: do a Tri Hita Karana audit. Which harmony is most neglected? Add to your altar, call a friend, or go walk in the great outdoors— whichever one you've been shortchanging.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): You are a diplomat in the struggle between beauty and inelegance. Your aptitude for creating harmony is a great asset that others might underestimate or miss completely. I hope you will always trust your hunger for classiness even if others dismiss it as superficial. One of your key reasons for being here on earth is to keep insisting on loveliness in a world too quick to settle for ugliness. These qualities of yours are especially needed right now. Please be gracefully insistent on expressing them wherever you go.
I urge you to boldly trust your thought experiments.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): The bad news: you underestimate how much joy and pleasure you deserve—and how much you're capable of experiencing. This artificially low expectation has sometimes cheated you out of your rightful share of bliss and fulfillment. The good news: life is now ready to conspire with you to raise your happiness levels. I hope you will cooperate eagerly. The more intensely you insist on feeling good, the more cosmic assistance you will garner. Here's a smart way to launch this holy campaign: renounce a certain lackluster thrill that diverts you from more lavish excitements.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): In classical music, a "rest" isn't the absence of music. It's a specific notation that creates space, tension and meaning. The silence is as much a part of the composition as the sound. I suggest you think of your current pause this way, Sagittarius. You're not waiting for your real life to resume. You're in a rest, and the rest is an essential part of the process you're following. It's creating the conditions for what comes next. So instead of anxiously filling every moment with productivity or distraction, try honoring the pause. Be deliberately quiet. Let the silence accumulate. When the next movement begins, you'll understand exactly why the rest was necessary.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Interesting temptations are wandering into your orbit. You may be surprised to find yourself drawn
toward entertaining gambles and tricky adventures. How should you respond? Should you say "Yes! Now! I'm ready!"? Or is open-minded caution a wiser approach? Conditions are too slippery for me to arrive at definitive conclusions. What I can tell you is this: merely considering and ruminating on these invitations will awaken uplifting and inspiring lessons. PS: To get the fullness of the blessings you want from other people, you must first give them to yourself.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): The engineer Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) said he envisioned his inventions in intricate detail before building them. He didn't need literal prototypes because his mental pictures were so vivid. I suspect you Aquarians now have extra access to this power. What scenarios are you dreaming of? What are you incubating in your imagination? I urge you to boldly trust your thought experiments. Your mental prototypes may be unusually accurate. The visions you're testing internally are reconnaissance missions to futures that you have the power to build. Regard your imagination as a laboratory.
PISCES
(FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Sufi mystics tell us that the heart has "seven levels of depth," each one bearing progressively more profound wisdom. You access these depths by feeling deeper, not thinking harder. Let's apply this perspective to you, Pisces. Right now, you're being called to descend past surface emotions (irritation, worry, mild contentment) into the layers beneath: primal wonder, the wild joy you're sometimes too cautious to express, and the sacred longing that can lead you to glory. This dive might feel risky. That's good! It means you're going deep enough. What you discover down there will reorganize everything above it for the better.
HERE'S THE HOMEWORK: What's the most taboo thing you want? Can you make it any less taboo? {in}
freewillastrology.com newsletter.freewillastrology.com freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com BrezsnyAstrology@gmail.com © 2026 Rob Brezsny
news of the weird
IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME Anthony Sapienza, 63, was charged with two counts of felony battery on Feb. 8 in Port Orange, Florida, after a brawl broke out during a pickleball game at the Spruce Creek Country Club, the Associated Press reported. Sapienza's wife, Julianne Sapienza, 51, was charged with a single count of felony battery. The Sapienzas were playing against another couple when an argument began about a rule; words were exchanged between the men before the accused hit his opponent with his paddle, then punched him on the ground. Before it was all over, about 20 players became involved in the fight, police said. The victim was over age 65. [AP, 2/12/2026]
THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS Back in the 1940s, carpenters would sometimes slide a newspaper between the floorboards of a house to fix uneven planks, The Washington Post reported. On Jan. 14, contractor Vincent Vincent tore up boards in a home in Fargo, North Dakota, and unsurprisingly found a newspaper page from Oct. 6, 1946. When he showed the paper to the homeowner, Casey Chapman, 75, Chapman recognized someone in the photo on the page: his mother. "It was just a shock," Chapman said. His family had no connection to the home before he bought it in 2017. That issue of the Fargo Forum featured the seven nominees for North Dakota Agricultural College's homecoming queen, one of which was Marty Anderson, Chapman's mom. (She won, by the way.) Anderson died in 2014. Chapman said she was "very active, and not afraid to take on leadership roles. My mother was a wonderful lady." He and his wife have already framed the clipping and will hang it in their renovated bedroom. [Washington Post, 2/11/2026]
LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS A 25-year-old man in Philipsburg, Montana, drove to the Granite County Courthouse to pay a fine he had received for open container, KBZK-TV reported on Feb. 17. While he waited, Sheriff Rico Barkell observed that he appeared to be intoxicated. He asked if the man had driven to the courthouse, to which he answered yes. Then he admitted he had had two drinks and smoked two bowls of marijuana. A breath test confirmed the sheriff's suspicions, with the man's blood alcohol at three times the legal limit. He also had an open container in his car. He was charged with aggravated DUI and open container. The sheriff's office posted about the incident on its Facebook page, summarizing with "Stupidity is not an excuse!" [KZBK, 2/17/2026]
•On Feb. 11, Dean Young, 26, entered a parked landscaping van in Hialeah, Florida, allegedly with intent to steal tools inside, NBC Miami reported. However, Young became trapped in the locked van and started screaming and beating on the doors. "Help me! I'm inside," he yelled. The landscapers called police but didn't free Young from the van, as there were machetes inside that he might have used as a weapon. Young, who had posted bail in an earlier case, was held on charges of burglary and criminal mischief. [NBC Miami, 2/12/2026]
By the Editors at Andrews McMeel
IRONY A famous rock formation in Melendugno, Puglia, Italy, called Lovers' Arch collapsed into the Adriatic Sea on Valentine's Day, The Guardian reported. Strong storm surges and heavy rain pounded the area before the landmark fell. "It is a devastating blow to the heart," said Melendugno Mayor Maurizio Cisternino. "Nature has been overturned." [Guardian, 2/16/2026]
MEANWHILE, AT THE OLYMPICS ... The real star of the Feb. 18 women's cross country team sprint qualifying round in Lago Di Tesero, Italy, was Nazgul, a 2-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog. NPR reported that as skiers flew across the finish line, Nazgul broke out of his doghouse and ran across, too—even being captured with the official finish line camera. The dog's owner said Nazgul "just wanted to follow us. He always looks for people." [NPR, 2/18/2026]
WRONG PLANE, WRONG TIME Fox5 Atlanta reported on Feb. 10 that a passenger on a United Airlines flight boarded the wrong plane, then wondered why it was taking so long. The passenger intended to fly from Los Angeles to Managua, Nicaragua, through Houston. Six hours into the flight, he asked a flight attendant why it was taking so long to get to Houston—and realized he was on a flight to Tokyo. United Airlines paid for a two-night hotel stay as they worked out a new itinerary for the passenger and offered a $1,000 travel credit. [Fox5 Atlanta, 2/10/2026]
THE CONTINUING CRISIS The Town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, declared a local emergency on Feb. 17 after at least two sinkholes opened up on its streets, WFMZ-TV reported. A dump truck that was hauling asphalt to repair one sinkhole ended up falling into the ground, while farther down the street, a car fell into a hole. The dump truck also damaged a water main, which could not be repaired until the truck could be removed from the hole. Using groundpenetrating radar, officials located several different voids beneath the surface, said Mayor Randy Piazza. The emergency declaration allows faster access to resources and assistance, town officials said. Public Works Director Matt Noel said eight homes had been evacuated, and residents of other homes have been encouraged to leave. [WFMZ, 2/18/2026]
REPEAT OFFENDER Michael Delsid, 46, is no stranger to Fresno, California, police. KMPH-TV reported that Delsid was arrested after a chase on Feb. 17 for the 36th time—in this incident, for evading police, reckless driving and probation violations. Delsid's criminal record dates back to 1994 and includes violent crimes, drug offenses and property crimes. He is ineligible for bail. [KMPH, 2/18/2026] {in}
NATIONAL NAVAL AVIATION Visit
Museum
• More than 150 beautifully resorted aircraft
• Hangar Bay One with an expanded Apollo Space exhibit, Marine One helicopter and F/A-18 Hornet
• Giant 4K Screen Digital Theater, cafe’, simulators, museum store and more!
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
• Access to the museum is through the West Gate on Blue Angel Pkwy.
• A REAL ID or valid passport is required for base access
• A clear bag policy is in effect.
See free Blue Angels practices most Tuesday and Wednesdays. Scan the QR code for all the details and premium seating options.
