Inweekly July 25 2019 Issue

Independent News | July 25, 2019 | Volume 20 | Number 30

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winners & losers

outtakes

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5

news 6&8

The world around you starts to educate you; it speaks back to you.

20th anniversary feature 15

buzz

17

13 contact us info@inweekly.net

publisher Rick Outzen

graphic designer Michael Daw

editor & creative director Joani Delezen

contributing writers Savannah Evanoff, Jennifer Leigh, Jeremy Morrison, C.S. Satterwhite, Stephanie Sharp, Sydney Robinson

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Independent News is published by Inweekly Media, Inc., P.O. Box 12082, Pensacola, FL 32591. (850)438-8115. All materials published in Independent News are copyrighted. © 2018 Inweekly Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

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winners & losers

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KC Gartman / Photo Courtesy of Baptist Health Care

winners

KC GARTMAN The leader of the Baptist

Health Care Foundation has been named chief development officer for Baptist Health Care. In her expanded role, Gartman will also oversee the growth and expansion of the Foundation's planned and endowment giving, major gifts, grant writing, corporate giving, grateful patient and family programs, and campaigns. She will continue to provide assistance with Baptist Health Care's community outreach and community support efforts.

WHITNEY FIKE The communications

manager for International Paper has been selected as a member of Leadership Florida Connect Class 10. Leadership Florida Connect is the premier statewide resource for educating, engaging and inspiring Florida's top emerging leaders. Connect selects a diverse class of 46 Florida leaders—corporate CEOs, business owners, educators, elected officials and non-profit executives—to participate in an eight-month learning experience that will take them to communities across Florida.

JOHN POWELL Imagination Playground

selected Rev. John H. Powell to be the 2019 Summer Block Champion. Block Champions are those inspirational leaders or teams enthusiastically using the Imagination Playground Blue Blocks to engage children in learning and fun. For more than 25 years, Powell has volunteered time to the support and education of underserved youth through his unpaid role as executive director for Truth for Youth. Under his leadership, Truth for Youth has expanded to several surrounding counties and continues to evolve as the community needs change.

Doug Underhill / Courtesy Photo

losers

DOUG UNDERHILL The Escambia County Commissioner for District 2 once again failed to win support from the rest of the commission. Underhill had asked them to approve paying for his legal defense in an ongoing libel case involving his Facebook posts. He wanted the county to spend $350 per hour to hire an attorney to defend him in the case brought by a Pensacola political consultant whom Underhill had attacked on Facebook. The commissioners said the comments were outside of his duties as an elected official.

J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS The former member of Trump's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity has settled a lawsuit over reports released by his group, the Public Interest Legal Foundation, that accused hundreds of Virginians of illegally voting and committing felonies. The lawsuit stated that the reports amounted to defamation and voter intimidation. PILF agreed to remove the private information from their website and to issue a public apology. The voter fraud commission disbanded in 2018 without issuing a final report.

MARY BETH JACKSON After fighting for months to keep her job, the former Okaloosa County Superintendent of Schools resigned last week. Jackson had appealed her suspension to the Florida Senate, but her resignation put an end to that process. Jackson handdelivered a resignation letter to the Florida Department of State, minutes after DeSantis issued an executive order that revoked her suspension and reinstated her with the expectation that her resignation was imminent.

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outtakes

By Rick Outzen

A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

Immigrants helped build our economy. My father's grandfathers were both immigrants—Andrew Outzen from Denmark and John Aloysius Cannon from Ireland— who made their fortunes building railroads during the late 1800s. They faced scorn and resentment when they moved to the South but built successful careers.

The impact of immigrants is no less today.

Immigrants and their children founded 45 percent of U.S. Fortune 500 companies, according to the recent New American Fortune 500 report. Among the Fortune 500, foreign-born individuals directly founded 101 companies, while the children of immigrants started another 122.

Henry Ford's father was born in Ireland. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' biological father was born in Syria. Amazon's Jeff Bezos' adoptive father was born in Cuba. Two immigrants, Levi Strauss from Germany and Jacob Davis from Latvia, created Levi's.

The percentage of Fortune 500 companies that have at least one immigrant or child-of-immigrant founder has increased steadily over the eight years since New American Economy produced its first report. In 2011, two out of every five of the Fortune 500 companies had at least one immigrant or child-of-immigrant founder.

According to the 2019 report, Fortune 500 companies founded by immigrants or their children had $6.1 trillion in annual revenue last year. That figure is higher than the GDP of

many developed countries—including Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. These Fortune 500 firms employ over 13.5 million people—a population that would rank as the fifth-largest state in the country, just after New York but easily beating Pennsylvania.

Among the states that have 10 or more New American Fortune 500 companies, New York leads with 35 firms. California comes in second with 29 New American Fortune 500 companies, followed by Illinois with 21, Texas with 18, Virginia with 12 and both Florida and New Jersey with 10 each.

The New American Fortune 500 is only one example of how immigrants and their children create American jobs and drive our economy. Medium and small businesses are also vital to the U.S. economy. Immigrants have a significant role to play here, with nearly 3.2 million immigrants running their own businesses.

Data from 2017 also showed that immigrants continue to be more likely to be entrepreneurs than their U.S.-born counterparts.

According to research, nearly all net job growth in the United States is attributed to new firms and startups. We, as a nation, should be reaching out to bring more immigrants to our shores.

As President Ronald Reagan said, "Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands." {in} rick@inweekly.net

We, as a nation, should be reaching out to bring more immigrants to our shores.

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AR SKATEBOARDING

Rendering Courtesy of Upward Intuition

By Jeremy Morrison Skateboarders in Pensacola will soon have a public skatepark near downtown, as the city intends to construct one beneath I-110 as part of the larger Hollice T. Williams Greenway project. Before the construction, however, the city is planning to install so-called "skate spots" in the area.

"The idea is, throughout the park, you'll be able to hit different spots as you go along," Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson explained.

"It won't just be the skatepark at the end of Wright. Really, the Hollice T. Williams will give you the opportunity to hit different skate spots when you eventually hit the skatepark."

The mayor announced the skate spots earlier this month along with local skater Jon Shell, who dreamed up the skatepark under the interstate and launched a nonprofit, Upward Intuition, to make his vision a reality.

"We're working on having skate spots scattered sporadically through the linear park so it'll lead into the skatepark," Shell said. "I'm really excited because I live in East Hill, so it's downhill on Gonzales Street all the way to I-110. Eventually, I'll be able to ride from my house in East Hill, end up in the linear park, hit some spots, connect into the skatepark and then into our downtown."

The skate spots will consist of large, precast concrete slabs. If the slabs look familiar, it will be because they're leftovers from the federal courthouse downtown currently getting a facelift.

"They have these 20-, 30-, 40-foot pieces of structural concrete, many of which end up as reject pieces," Shell said.

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"They're going to gift the city some of these reject pieces, and we'll be able to use those for skate spots," Shell said, explaining that skaters like to use such structures the same way they incorporate various aspects of the urban landscape. "They like to find obstacles that challenge them in the streets— ledges, stairs, rails and things like that."

When announcing the skate spots— scheduled to be installed this fall—Robinson and Shell also teased another element of the project. The city is working with the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition to implement an interactive learning component at the skatepark.

"These skate spots will include not only a safe area for our skate community," Mayor Robinson said, "but they will also create interactive locations that will serve as building blocks for STEM and STEAM learning."

The interactive element, involving augmented reality, sounded fascinating but was not fully explored during the skate spot announcement. Shell said, "Think Pokemon Go, or the new Harry Potter game, but way cooler."

A couple of weeks later, David Fries, an interdisciplinary research scientist at IHMC, sat down for a discussion to dig a bit deeper into this augmented reality aspect of the park. He said, "This is really about objects coming alive with information."

THE INVISIBLE BEHIND THE VISIBLE

Fries isn't just a research scientist or some brain-trust genius holed up on the IHMC campus. He's also a skater.

"Normally, I skateboard into work every day," Fries said. "I love it. I get to see the cracks in the sidewalks, get to know the city."

A while back, the research scientist skated over for a beer at Gulf Coast Brewery, where the bartender, familiar with Fries' work, made a fateful suggestion, "Oh, you ought to catch up with Jon Shell."

Fries' work involves augmented reality, or AR. The scientist was already plugged in with the city, working on an AR project at Bayview Park. Listening to him describe his work, it sounds less techie and more metaphysical, nearly existential and almost esoteric.

"You can start to see the invisible behind the visible," Fries explained.

His work entails using AR to transform a landscape into a virtual learning lab.

Employing an arsenal of specifically placed sensors and tapping into ever-evolving technologies like image recognition and ever-expanding collections of information via the internet, the scientist enables a field of information anyone with a smartphone can tap into.

Fries holds up his phone. He notes how people, especially younger people, have become inseparable from their technological devices.

"You're not going to be able to wrestle this from them," he said, waving the phone.

"So, how do you harness this for good?"

Fries sees an opportunity here to put the ever-present screen to use—"not for entertainment or escape, but as education"—and, a bit ironically, use technology to acquaint people with the natural world better.

"This is a gateway to help people reconnect with the outdoors."

David Fries "This is a gateway to help people reconnect with the outdoors," he said of the phone.

Fries said that Bayview Park provides an ideal landscape for the type of AR work he's looking to do. The park has rich, tree-filled grounds. It's on the waterfront of Bayou Texar and also features multiple man-made structures, such as the new community center currently being constructed.

Fries focuses in on a theoretical tree at Bayview. This tree, he explained, is full of information. Once the park, and this tree, is outfitted with sensors, someone can point their phone's camera at the tree, at which point the tree's species will be identified using image recognition. But that's just the beginning of the story that such a tree can tell. People can also learn about its age, its seasonal changes, its root structure, how much water it intakes and oxygen it outputs and on and on.

"The history, the science," Fries said. "Imaginative studying could happen around this tree.

It becomes a kind of tree of knowledge."

Or point a phone at the new com-

munity center. Drawing information from the internet, the AR project would allow a viewer to learn the building's particulars, when its completion is expected or even display photos of the former community center on the site.

"The world around you starts to educate you; it speaks back to you," Fries said.

As this AR project is deployed and used by people, it feeds on the information it receives, its capability growing the more it's used. In essence, the system will be able to learn and expand its knowledge base, which will, in turn, expand the amount of information it can dispense.

"It's just like us. It's ever-evolving, constantly changing," Fries said.

Fries' AR project at Bayview will be replicated at the skatepark. In addition to providing the varied information about the natural and manmade landscape in the surrounding area, this installment can also be put to use by skateboarders, who can employ AR to mathematically breakdown skatepark features or analyze their tricks.

"There's opportunity to expand what a skatepark is." Fries "There's opportunity to expand what a skatepark is," Fries said.

A SMART CITY

Once the AR projects are up and running at Bayview and the skatepark at Hollice T. Williams, Fries would like to see additional areas of Pensacola outfitted with such capability. He'd like to deploy AR along the downtown waterfront, at Bruce Beach and elsewhere, maybe everywhere.

"You're starting to blanket the city," Fries explained the concept, painting a picture of a city that spoke to its people— "an educational city, a smart city, where you're making the city smarter."

Such an educational landscape could be put to use any number of ways. School field trips or tourism draws are easy to imagine. But the technology could also be used for purposes such as creating stormwater maps.

Such AR technology could enable Fries' vision of seeing beyond the given field of reality, allowing information to seep out of thin air. He said, "It's about the real world starting to talk back to see and hear the invisible."

Wiring up meaningful expanses of the city will be a costly, involved endeavor. But it may be something Mayor Robinson is up for entertaining.

"More city parks and assets, we want to incorporate ways for children to learn," he said when announcing IHMC's AR component at the skatepark. "They go there, there's a natural environment, there's no reason they shouldn't be learning." {in} inweekly.net

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JUSTICE FOR TYMAR

Photo by C. Scott Satterwhite

By C. Scott Satterwhite On Friday, July 5, Pensacola police officers pulled a 28-year-old African American driver to the side of the road for a somewhat routine traffic stop. Within minutes, police opened fire on Tymar Crawford, shooting the man multiple times. Crawford died shortly after of his wounds.

From this moment, as is often the case in high profile police shootings, conflicting stories arise.

According to a police spokesperson, city police officers ordered Crawford's vehicle to stop after smelling marijuana. As the vehicle continued, the officers saw that the occupants "began to throw narcotics out of the window" before stopping at the corner of C and Brainerd streets, near Crawford's home.

Crawford then stepped out of the vehicle. Police contend that Crawford fought with police, disarming one officer, sparking a deadly confrontation. Another officer on the scene immediately fired his weapon, shooting Crawford multiple times.

Kimberly Henderson, Crawford's partner, objected to this police narrative. Contrary to official claims, she states Crawford was holding his hands up when an officer started punching him as Crawford's son watched from the front porch. As Crawford attempted to get on the ground, an officer shot him six times.

These conflicting stories are at the heart of a protest march and rally, led by the family and the Pensacola chapter of Dream Defenders.

DEFENDING TYMAR

Coordinated by the Dream Defenders—a Florida-based Civil Rights organization with a focus on community policing—hundreds of local residents marched on Monday, July 15, with a list of demands for the City of Pensacola.

Ieasha Williams, an organizer with Dream Defenders, said that when she first heard about the Crawford shooting, "I was furious, but not surprised."

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Williams originally became involved with Dream Defenders after the murders of Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice.

"To me, it was too many people," she said, describing the seemingly endless videos of police killing African American men. "Seeing all of that led me to take action, seeing how I could get involved, what I could do to ensure that if anything happened, or if anything was going on in my community, that I would be right there to be a resource as much as possible."

Jamil Davis of Dream Defenders helped organize the rally. He said that he first took notice of the Dream Defenders when members of the organization "stormed the state capitol after the [2013] acquittal of George Zimmerman. I knew then that I wanted to be involved with the organization." Davis' response to Crawford's shooting was similar to that of Williams. He said, "I wasn't shocked either, quite honestly."

"The history that Pensacola Police Department has with communities of color and areas that they consider high crime areas," Davis said, helped lead to the shooting, "they're honestly in those areas more than anything."

The organizer critiqued what he described as the Pensacola Police Department's "over-policing of the area," as well as the "disregard for bystanders," specifically Crawford's children. Davis said, "To have this kind of incident, where you have no type of concern for anyone in the family at the time of this incident occurring, is something that's not a surprising thing to me."

He added, "Who else knows who could've been killed in this type of situation? These are things that you have to think about as an officer, that you have to have more tact and precaution when dealing in these type of situations."

ORGANIZING DOESN'T WAIT

While a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation is underway, Crawford's family and supporters are not waiting for the lengthy process before issu-

ing demands of the city of Pensacola. For them, the march was a first step.

The July 15 march began at the very spot where the Pensacola police officer shot Tymar Crawford to death. March co-organizer Haley Morrissette, also of Dream Defenders, led the crowd with safety precautions and several chants. Numbering in the hundreds, the long line of people followed by cars moved from Crawford's home, past North Hill's historic African American AME Zion cemetery, and down to Cervantes Street.

The march ended at the steps of the Pensacola Police Department.

Hundreds of people wearing white shirts, many carrying signs that read "Stop the War on Black Americans" and "Justice for Tymar Crawford," stood in front of the police headquarters. One person held a large photo of Crawford praying.

A number of people, including Crawford's mother, gave brief speeches to the crowd. Morrissette then held the megaphone and addressed the demands listed specifically by Crawford's family.

The demands included the release of the officers' names, immediate termination of all officers involved, civilian oversight of the Pensacola Police Department, deprioritization of criminal marijuana possession, implicit bias training for all Pensacola police officers and "restitution to the family that will include funeral costs and long-term trauma-specific therapy."

Morrissette asked the crowd, "Do we want that?" The crowd yelled back a resounding, "Yes!" and broke into chants of, "No justice, no peace!"

Crawford's partner then addressed the audience. Henderson said, "Thank you to everyone who came out to support Tymar. This has been really hard for me…I promise y'all, I'm gonna need y'all more after the funeral."

Several members of the crowd hugged her as she held back tears. Williams was among the last to speak. She said that as a victim of police harassment, this issue was personal to her. She then led the audience in a call-and-response chant, with the crowd repeating each sentence—"It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win.

We must love and support one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains."

The march ended as it began, peacefully. No members of the Pensacola Police Department stepped outside of their headquarters to address the crowd or to speak to anyone. The marchers then walked the mile back to the spot where Crawford was killed.

While no specific plans for future marches have been set, Dream Defenders and ANSWER Coalition—a co-organizer of the rally—call on the public to attend Pensacola City Council meeting on Monday, Aug. 5, the one-month anniversary of the shooting. {in}

MAYOR PROMISES MORE TRAINING

By Jeremy Morrison

Alluding to conversations with citizens in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Tymar Crawford, Mayor Grover Robinson said Monday that he is committed to increasing the training of the Pensacola Police Department.

"We can't do enough training," Robinson said during his weekly press conference July 22.

The mayor said that while some of the demands made in the aftermath of the shooting would interfere with the current FDLE investigation, he was on board with others—such as more training for police officers, which he said he had already discussed with Police Chief Tommi Lyter.

"We absolutely agree with the point on that letter about training, and we're already on that," Robinson said. "That's something we need to do a better job of."

The mayor also said he agreed with a point raised in the posting regarding the de-prioritization of marijuana possession.

Robinson said. "I'm not sure we're just totally decriminalizing, but we are looking at how we police that, and we're going to be evaluating that from our own standards internally, how we do things moving forward."

Perhaps most notably, the mayor said that once the FDLE investigation has wrapped up, and regardless of its findings, the city will then conduct its own investigation into the officer-involved shooting.

"I think we need to step back and evaluate any time something goes wrong," Robinson said. "You've got to look at what happened and what you did and did not do."

The mayor said that such an internal investigation should not be read as the city signaling that this recent event was not handled properly, and he also stressed that he wanted the FDLE investigation "to go forward without any prejudice."

Robinson said the FDLE investigation would determine if the officer acted appropriately or not. The city investigation, meanwhile, is geared more towards questions about best practices than it is concerned with legalities.

"The investigation that is going on now is simply a matter of the legality of what happened. And I do think that no matter what is legal, that is the bottom-most standard.

We need to be doing what is right for our citizens," the mayor said.

Mayor Robinson wasn't sure when the FDLE investigation might conclude. He said, "I was told it could be a couple of months." inweekly.net

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July 25, 2019

9

Inweekly is celebrating our 20th anniversary this month.

Rather than attempting to cram two decades of highlights into one week, we've decided to break it up and use all four July issues to cover the key moments from each five years of our history.

We've already written on the fall of W.D. Childers, Maritime

Park's history and how newspaper earned its national reputation.

This week, we share how Inweekly reconnected to its roots as a community advocate, sharing some of our biggest stories over the past five years.

We hope you enjoy this journey down memory lane.

RETURN TO OUR ROOTS

By Rick Outzen Over the five past years, Inweekly has returned to its investigative roots in being a watchdog. We've reported on corrupt charter schools, jail deaths, government mismanagement, injustice, cover-ups and our area's challenge of dealing with the racist elements of its past.

NEWPOINT SCANDAL

In March 2015, we broke the news that Escambia County School District's award-winning charter high school wasn't as it seemed.

Also, then-School Board Member Jeff Bergosh alleged Superintendent Malcolm Thomas had known of several of the allegations of altered grades, cheating on tests, harassment and mismanagement for months. With that knowledge, Thomas still had let the governor give the schools $27,253 for their high performance ("Malcolm Thomas' Latest Headache," 5/7/15).

Shortly after our report, State Attorney Bill Eddins announced an investigation into Newpoint Pensacola High and Newpoint Academy. Superintendent Thomas joined in the investigation, which led to the Escambia County School Board voting on May 19 to terminate the charter contracts of the two charter schools ( "Ax Falls on Newpoint," 5/28/19). The following month, Newpoint shut down the schools and its elementary school, Five Flags Academy, without giving the teachers their final paychecks.

In the following weeks, former Newpoint employees from around the state contacted

Inweekly. They shared similar stories of mismanagement, many of which were allegedly tied to founder and owner of the Newpoint Education Partners, Marcus May. With their permission, we turned their information over to Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar, who handled the prosecution.

In May 2016, an Escambia County grand jury indicted three entities—Newpoint Education Partners LLC, School Warehouse, Inc. and Red Ignition, Inc. The indictments were for committing aggravated white-collar crime, grand theft and money laundering, related to the theft of public education funds and charter school grant funds received by Newpoint's Escambia County charter schools for furniture, computers, equipment and services ("Newpoint: Charges and Possible Cover-Up," 6/29/17).

The alleged fraudulent schemes involved Newpoint-managed charter schools in Escambia, Bay, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Holmes and Pinellas counties. According to court documents, May obtained more than $1 million of public funds from a pattern of thefts from the Florida Department of Education, six school districts and 15 Newpoint charter schools.

In the end, Newpoint founder Marcus May would be found guilty of robbing the school districts of Escambia, Bay, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties for a total of $5,216,856.15, according to court documents.

For his scheme to defraud school systems and support his celebrity-like lifestyle, Judge Thomas Dannheisser sentenced May to 20 years in prison and ordered him to pay back all the money he stole as well as $93,357.73 in court costs ("The Charter School Shell Game,"11/29/18).

At the sentencing, Assistant State Attorney Edgar admonished the 56-year-old May for jilting funds from children and taxpayers.

"The education of our young shouldn't be taken away for pure greed," Edgar said in the courtroom.

Judge Dannheisser took his comments a step further during the sentencing. The judge blamed both May and public-school officials for the unprecedented loss of millions in school funding.

"He knew the bank guards were asleep, so he walked right into the vault and helped himself to millions," said Judge Dannheisser in a prepared statement. "In fact, if his greed was not so enormous, he might still be getting away with his actions."

CONFEDERATE SWAN SONG

In December 2014, the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 to remove the five-flag display, which included the Confederate flag, from county property and replace it with the U.S. flag ("Buzz," 12/18/14).

Pointing to the U.S. flag behind his seat in the commission chambers, Commissioner Doug Underhill said, "This is the flag that is draped over the coffins of our soldiers when they are returned home. This is the flag that we all swear our oaths under. This is the flag of Escambia County."

But Commissioner Grover Robinson had second thoughts and asked his fellow commissioners to reconsider its vote. The Pensacola News Journal's editorial board also came out in strong opposition to the commission's decision to remove the flags, which prompted a protest march against the daily newspaper ("From Pensacola, With Love," 2/19/15).

In March, the county commission voted 3-2 in favor of the resolution and gave the county the option to display historical flags at county buildings that are consistent with the flags the city of Pensacola flies. District 3 Commissioner Lumon May and District 2 Commissioner Doug Underhill dissented.

Then, on June 17, 2015, a 21-year-old white supremacist murdered nine African Americans during a prayer service at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, S.C. Conservative Republicans in South Carolina, Georgia and across the South joined the African-American community in calling for the Confederate battle flag to be removed from the government buildings.

In my Outtakes ("Let Go of the Past," 6/25/15), I wrote, "(Governor Haley, Walmart, Sears and Mississippi House Speaker Gunn) are not asking to replace the battle flag with another Confederate flag. They are saying the time has come to let go of the past and no longer let it define us. Escambia County and the City of Pensacola should do the same."

The day after the column went online, Mayor Ashton Hayward announced that the Confederate Flag be removed and replaced with the state flag.

"While the Confederate Flag undeniably represents a part of Pensacola's history, to many, it is a painful symbol of racial hatred and intolerance," he said in a press release. "I proudly celebrate our great city's rich history, but I do not believe that we are defined by our history alone. We will always be the City of Five Flags—but now is the time for us to turn our focus to our city's bright future."

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The decision upset some ("Confederate Cultural Clash," 7/2/15) and set up a second debate at the county commission, since its March resolution said the county would follow the city's lead. Rev. H.K. Matthews addressed the commission at its July meeting ("County Commission Votes Down Confederate Flag," 7/16/15).

"And the right thing is to continue not to fly the Confederate flag, which is so hurtful, so harmful, so despicable, really, to members of the African-American community and, as you heard tonight, not only of the AfricanAmerican community, but the community as a whole of people of good will," said the Civil Rights icon. "We don't need to continue fighting this battle. There are so many other things that need to be tended to."

The commissioners agreed to remove the Confederate flag from the Pensacola Bay Center.

The city's Confederate past would surface again after another tragedy. In August 2017, hundreds descended on Charlottesville, N.C., to protest against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. The protests turned deadly when a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, injuring 19 people and killing one woman, 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Locally, the Northwest Florida chapter of Indivisible organized a "Solidarity with Charlottesville" march starting at Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza and heading north to the base of the city's only Civil War monument, "Our Confederate Dead" statue in Lee Square.

Monument supporters staged a counterprotest the following week ("Which Side Are You On," 8/24/17).

Mayor Hayward and Councilman Larry Johnson issued statements in favor of moving the statue off of city property. However, neither politician followed up on the issue ("Slipped Through His Grasp," 8/31/17).

This year, State Rep. Mike Hill, who represents the Panhandle area, proposed a bill that would have prohibited local governments from taking down monuments, including those honoring Confederate soldiers. It went nowhere.

While he opposed the bill, Mayor Robinson said at his weekly press conference that he didn't believe the "Our Confederate Dead" monument should be removed from city property ("Buzz," 1/10/19), so it's doubtful anything will change in Lee Square.

Meanwhile, several local organizers with the EJI Community Remembrance Project are working on creating a memorial remember-

ing those who lost their lives to racial terror violence. They would like to create a historical marker in or around Plaza Ferdinand to mark the lynchings of Escambia County ("Take Them Down/Build Them Up," 9/27/18).

JAIL DEATHS

Over the course of a year, the Escambia County Jail had six deaths, three of which were suicides. No one was tracking the deaths, other than Inweekly. We believed the number was alarming, and the statistics backed us up ("Jail Deaths Require Scrutiny," 12/3/15).

Nationally, around 80 percent of all local jails had no deaths in a year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Less than 7 percent had two or more. If a death happened in a city or county jail in Florida, there was a one in 10 chance it would happen in Escambia County, according to the statistics.

We told how inmate Rodney Jamel Berry, 53, died after having vomited and defecated on himself repeatedly for nearly seven hours.

The correction officers and his fellow inmates tried to get medical help for Berry, but the infirmary would only place him on a sick call list for later in the day.

In my Outtakes ("Too Many Jail Deaths," 12/3/15), I called out county leaders, "The Board of County Commissioners needs to quit burying their heads in the sand and deal with the jail infirmary. Six deaths are too many."

The following day, County Administrator Jack Brown announced he had fired his director of Corrections, Mike Tidwell. The jail command, community corrections and road prison staff would report directly to his assistant county administrator, Chip Simmons.

At its Dec. 10, 2015, agenda review, Escambia County Board of Commissioners discussed the rash of deaths in the county jail. Inweekly and Rick's Blog were brought up several times in the discussion ("Changes Are Coming to Jail," 12/17/15).

"If I could believe the Independent News story that I read recently, I would say I'd fire half the people over there," said Commissioner Wilson Robertson. "I hope to God none of that or most of that is not true."

Brown said the newspaper's reporting was accurate. The commissioners approved two new medical positions at the jail and an independent monitoring position to review the health care system at the jail and determine just how much money it would take to run an effective jail medical care program.

FIRE CHIEF DEBACLE

Mayor Hayward was a fantastic pitchman for Pensacola, attracting millions of state and federal funds. His smiling face was the perfect image to let the world know that Pensacola was open for business.

Where his toothy grin failed was in operations, or more accurately, in the people he hired to run the day-to-day side of city government. Nothing exposed his failures more than the fire chief debacle that led to the city secretly paying out over half a million dollars to the chiefs weeks before Hayward handed the reins to Mayor Robinson ("Fire Chiefs Vindicated," 1/31/19).

On Feb. 2, 2016, Assistant City Administrator Keith Wilkins and Human Resources Manager Tracy Walsh met with Fire Chief Matt Schmitt and Deputy Fire Chief Joe Glover at city hall. The pair told the chiefs that they were being placed on administrative leave effective immediately. Wilkins said the suspensions were based on an ongoing investigation.

The chiefs were ordered to turn over their city-owned cell phones, radio and keys to city buildings and vehicles. Wilkins gave the men no details about the complaint filed against them ("Pensacola Fire Department Coup D'ĂŠtat," 2/11/16).

Mayor Hayward hired Beggs & Lane attorney Russell Van Sickle to conduct an investigation into charges made by the city's

chief human resources officer, Edward Sisson, against the two chiefs that had filed EEOC complaints against Sisson.

Meanwhile, Inweekly uncovered that Mayor Hayward had failed to establish an independent appeal board as he had promised state lawmakers when the legislature approved the abolition of the Civil Service Board two years earlier. Furthermore, the new appeal process had never been given to city employees and wasn't uploaded on the city website until after Schmitt and Glover were placed on leave.

After Van Sickle delivered his report to Hayward in May ("Part 2: Inside the Report," 6/2/16), the mayor fired the chiefs ("Part 1: Fired Chiefs," 6/2/16). He bristled at the criticism from the city council.

"If the council was truly concerned about retaliation and the failure to follow policies designed to ensure fairness, the council would have fully supported the actions taken on May 10 to remove the former Interim and Deputy Fire Chiefs," said Hayward. "Our administration is going to do the right thing for the employees of the city, even when that means discharging management employees."

Schmitt and Glover filed lawsuits in federal court. A little more than 18 months after the firings, Mayor Hayward would not remember much about the report or what parts prompted him to fire the chiefs, according to court documents.

During his December 2017 deposition, Hayward said he fired the chiefs because of the "findings in the report." However, when he was questioned about if he fired the chiefs for retaliation, the mayor said, "I don't recall." He had the same response for all six issues in Sisson's complaint.

In October 2018, Hayward settled the lawsuits for $575,000 as the 2018 general election approached, without notifying the city council or city residents ("Fire Chiefs Vindicated,"1/31/19).

The fire chiefs' attorney Rocco Calamusa, of the Birmingham law firm Wiggins, Child, Pantazis & Goldfarb, told Inweekly, "Chief Schmitt and Chief Glover are glad the matter's been resolved. They both stand by the allegations that they were retaliated against."

He added, "They are both glad that they stood up for what they believed was right, and with this resolution, their resignation and the payments, they have been vindicated and are ready to move on with their lives." {in}

Providing a Team Approach to Wealth Management and Retirement Planning Solutions for Families and Individuals

850.479.7191 | TrustYourPlan.com | 220 E. Nine Mile Rd., Pensacola, FL 32534 Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC, and are: Not deposits; Not insured by NCUA or any other governmental agency; Not guaranteed by Gulf Winds Credit Union; Subject to risk, may lose value. Investment Advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Gulf Winds Credit Union is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services.

July 25, 2019

11

66 Positive things to say

You can make a difference in a child’s life 1. I’m grateful for you.

2. You make me proud.

3. Your words are meaningful.

4. You have great ideas.

5. I love being your parent.

6. You don’t have to be perfect to be great.

7. Your opinions matter.

8. You are important.

9. You are loved.

10. I believe you.

11. I believe in you.

12. This family wouldn’t be the same without you.

13. You are valuable.

14. You can say no.

15. You can say yes.

16. I know you did your best.

17. You were right.

18. I accept who you are.

19. We can try your way.

20. You are helpful.

21. You are worth it.

22. You make me happy.

23. I love your creativity.

24. Being around you is fun.

25. I can’t wait to hear about it.

26. Don’t be afraid to be you.

27. You’re making a difference.

28. I’m excited to spend time with you.

29. You are interesting.

30. I love seeing the world your way.

31. It’s good to be curious.

32. I love the way you tell stories.

33. What you did was awesome.

34. I admire you.

35. That’s a great question.

36. Your friends are lucky to have you.

37. I trust you.

38. That was a really good choice.

39. Seeing you happy makes me happy.

40. Being your parent is my favorite job.

41. I forgive you.

42. You make me better.

43. You are a good boy/girl.

44. Thank you for being you.

45. I’m so glad you’re here.

46. You look great.

47. I understand you.

48. Watching you grow up is the best.

49. That was really brave.

50. I appreciate you.

51. Everyone makes mistakes.

52. Yes, me too.

53. You are very good at that!

54. You can try again tomorrow.

55. No one is perfect.

56. I love how you said that.

57. Not everyone will like you, but that’s OK. 58. You did that so well.

59. I’m listening.

60. That’s a fair point.

61. You are beautiful inside and out.

62. I love you.

63. I will never stop loving you.

64. You are enough.

65. You make my heart full.

66. You are kind.

SOURCE: ALESSIA SANTORA, POPSUGAR MOMS

studeri.org The Studer Community Institute is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for people in the Pensacola metro area.

Build a Brain • Build a Life • Build a Community 212 1

inweekly.net

CERVANTES SAFETY FDOT is looking

for public feedback on its plans for West Cervantes. The department wants to know how people who use the street feel about the improvements aimed at making the route safer for both pedestrians and drivers.

Dubbed the West Cervantes Pedestrian Safety Plan, these improvements are a collaborative effort between FDOT, the city of Pensacola, Escambia County and the Florida Transportation Planning Organization. The $7.5 million project encompasses 2.3 miles of roadway—from Dominguez Street to A Street—and work is expected to begin in the fall of 2020.

In the plans designed and presented by FDOT on July 16, improvements included reducing lanes from 12 feet to 10 feet and adding crosswalks, along with accompanying crossing signals, along the corridor. In the expanses between these crosswalks, which stretch for blocks, median barriers would be installed to prevent pedestrians from crossing the street.

"We want to make sure people are using the designated crosswalks," said Ian Satter, FDOT public information director.

While the barriers do prevent pedestrians from crossing the street, they also present some challenges. Drivers, for example, will no longer be able to cross freely on cross streets from one side of Cervantes to the other, but will rather have to travel to an intersection featuring a break in the barrier.

"I'm thinking about how are people gonna get to the Elbow Room?" asked Jonathan Owens, noting that a pedestrian barrier makes it difficult for drivers in the opposite lane to enter his Cervantes Street establishment. "That's not just me. That's any of these businesses."

Running his finger along the map's orange line depicting the pedestrian barrier, Owens pointed out how the area's grid-street system would be broken up by the divide.

"There's a reason why the streets are gridded. You're eliminating the grid," he said. "It makes it less walkable."

This was a common sentiment. FDOT equipped attendees at the meeting with green and red circle stickers to be placed respectively on areas of the map where they found improvements they liked, as well as ones they did not favor. The red stickers quickly lined Cervantes, placed at pretty much each intersection where the pedestrian barrier blocked passage.

Drew Buchanan, who studied walkability and connectivity issues as a member of Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson's transition team, said he was also overall excited about the West Cervantes project but also expressed some reservations about the street grid being broken up—"that's what makes Brownsville so special"—and the long stretches of the corridor without crossing options.

"That's almost disincentivizing walking or biking," Buchanan said.

Satter said he recognizes concerns about preserving the street grid and about the impacts to businesses in the area—"you have to balance everything"—but that "safety is always going to take the priority."

"This is safety, safety, safety," Satter said, explaining that FDOT's primary objective is improving safety, minimizing the pedestrianvehicular accidents along the corridor.

FDOT will be hosting a second meeting to gather public input on the West Cervantes safety improvements on August 13, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Fricker Community Center. The public will also have a chance to formally comment at a meeting slated for this fall.

CASH FOR TEACHERS Florida Depart-

GANNETT MERGER TALKS Several me-

CITY GETS FEDERAL GRANT The U.S.

dia outlets reported last Friday that Gannett, owner of the Pensacola News Journal, may merge with Gatehouse Media, who owns nearly 700 papers across 39 states, including the dailies in Fort Walton Beach and Panama City. Gannett is the biggest newspaper chain in the U.S. by circulation.

ment of Education has allocated $15.8 million in federal funds to incentivize teachers with proven records of success to serve at Florida's D or F schools. Eligible teachers will receive as much as $15,000 in supplements.

Escambia County has four D schools—Holm and Warrington Elementary and Workman and Warrington Middle.

"Every Florida student, regardless of their background or their family's income, deserves great teachers who empower them to break down any impediments that encumber their life's freedom," said Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. "This is another way we are leveling the playing field for all Floridians, and we are thrilled for the opportunity to reward our state's hardworking teachers in the process."

Eligible teachers are those who have earned a highly effective or effective rating based on the state's value-added model calculation (when aggregated over three years) and teach at a Title 1 school with a 2019 school grade of D or F as of August 30.

Such teachers, who are rated highly effective in their VAM calculation, will receive up to a $15,000 supplement, and those teachers rated effective in their VAM calculation will receive up to a $7,500 supplement.

"We must constantly challenge ourselves to find ways to more effectively spend our resources on what matters the most, getting every student in front of a great teacher and implementing ideas that drive great outcomes for our students," said Commissioner Corcoran.

Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration is awarding a $12.25 million grant to the city of Pensacola to be used toward furthering efforts to build out an aviation-maintenance campus near Pensacola International Airport.

The grant announcement was made during

an event inside an already online hangar where ST Engineering got down to business last year.

Local officials are hoping the overall effort puts the region on the map when it comes to state-of-the-art aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).

The $12.25 million EDA grant, together with about $36 million in matching funds from the local and state level, will be used to construct a 173,000 square-foot hangar. The new facility will also feature a 60,000-square-foot services center, where ST will locate space for engineers, management and other support-related offices. Construction is expected to commence in the latter part of 2020.

"We're gonna have a lot of opportunities for the folks in Northwest Florida," said Bill Hafner, president of VT MAE, which oversees the Pensacola campus.

This new hangar will not be as large as the final two hangars planned for the Pensacola MRO campus, which will run north of 200,000 square feet and be designed to facilitate larger aircraft.

"It'll be over a quarter-mile in length from one end to the other," Hafner said, projecting that once the entire campus is built out, the operations will support 2,000 employees.

As the event wrapped up, Mayor Robinson directed his comments to ST workers at the event. He said, "It is you that has proved Pensacola can do this. We're going to work hard to make sure there are jobs here for you to have."

TRAFFIC SHIFT ON BRIDGE U.S. 98 east-

bound traffic (Pensacola to Gulf Breeze) will be shifted to the new Pensacola Bay Bridge Sunday evening, July 28, and U.S. 98 westbound (Gulf Breeze to Pensacola) on Thursday, Aug. 1.

From 8 p.m. Sunday, July 28, to 6 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 1, 17th Avenue will be closed to through traffic between Gregory Street and the CSX Railroad overpass. Drivers will be detoured using Ninth Avenue and Cervantes Street. Access to the visitor's center, boat ramp

MOST INVESTMENT LOSSES ARE FROM PRODUCTS WITH CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS PETER J. MOUGEY

Recovered $250 million on Behalf of over 3,000 Investors

850.435.7000 | LEVINLAW.COM Pensacola, FL July 25, 2019

13

and the Pensacola Bay Fishing Pier will be maintained for local traffic via 17th Avenue.

The temporary configuration for the new bridge will provide two lanes of eastbound and two lanes of westbound traffic, along with a center lane reserved for emergency vehicles. A multi-use path for pedestrians and bicyclists is expected to be operational approximately two months after the traffic shift.

With all traffic shifted to the new bridge, construction crews will demolish the current bridge, complete the new westbound structure and reconstruct the 17th Avenue interchange. All work is currently estimated for completion mid-2021.

HILL WANTS RENTERS State Farm repre-

sentative Mike Hill sent out a mailer to renters at downtown's Southtowne that stated, "I'm here to help life go right."

Hill is also a state representative whose political views have included banning abortions with no exclusions, reversing the gun reforms passed after the Parkland shootings and opposing any protections in the workplace for the LGBTQ community.

State Farm wants to separate businessman

414 1

Mike Hill from the right-wing radical Mike Hill, but will downtown Pensacola?

BANNED BOOKS The Human Rights De-

fense Center has received an extensive list of books and magazines that are currently banned

by Florida prisons as "a threat to security."

"The sheer breadth and wide-ranging scope of prison censorship in Florida is astounding," said Paul Wright, executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center, "but it should come as no surprise that a prison system that routinely murders and rapes its prisoners with impunity would also routinely trample the free speech rights of those prisoners and the publishers that wish to communicate with them."

State prisons have broadened the use of "threats to security" to include information that could help prisoners understand their experiences with incarceration or seek political or legal help. Moreover, books that discuss or criticize brutality, corruption, misconduct and racism in the criminal justice system in general and prisons, in particular, are singled out for censorship.

Among other publications improperly

banned by the Florida Department of Corrections due to alleged security threats are Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms, Danish: A Complete Guide for Beginners, Exotic Chickens: Coloring for Everyone: A Fun Anti-Stress Coloring Book and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

ZEROES FOR ZEROES Last week, the Zero

for Zeros campaign released a second round of data highlighting the disparity of banks, investment firms and other financial services companies who receive a perfect 100 rating from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index but in turn fund elected officials in the House of Representatives and the Senate who lead opposition to LGBT equality.

"These financial titans are proud supporters of their LGBT employees and customers, but at the same time, they are donating to some of the most vociferous opponents of LGBT equality in Congress," said Lane Hudson, Zero for Zeros' campaign manager.

Zero for Zeros will be targeting the following companies in its second wave, some of which are the most recognizable brands in the financial services industry—Wells

Fargo, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One Financial Corp, Citigroup, Cigna Corp, PNC Financial Services KPMG Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance and Compass Bank.

Zero for Zeros found that 49 companies have contributed over $5.8 million from their corporate PACs to the politicians who work against equality.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS A meeting of the selection committee for RFQ 19-022 (Provide Professional Construction Manager at Risk Services Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Campus Project at Pensacola International Airport) will be held 2 p.m. Friday, July 26, in the conference room of Pensacola International Airport, 2430 Airport Blvd.

"The Nonprofit Accelerator," an event that helps groups work smarter to maximize their impact, will be held 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at the Studer Community Institute Building, 220 W. Garden St. Event registration is $20 and includes lunch. To register, visit Eventbrite and search for "The Nonprofit Accelerator." {in}

inweekly.net

I enjoy doing a job that results with myself feeling pride in a final product that I can sign my name to.

[At ST Engineering] I know that my work ethic is appreciated.

- Norman Hoffman

We look forward to working with our newest partner, ST Engineering.

ST Engineering

Great projects don’t just “happen”.

I love the amazing people I work with. When you can enjoy the people it makes even a bad day brighter.

ST Engineering has the best people!

PUBLIC

- Christina Thach

+ PRIVATE + COMMUNITY = JOBS Working together we are building job growth and a better future for all of us.

ST Engineering

I love that ST Engineering has invested time and money into my NDT training; so that I may better not only myself and my career, but for the betterment of the company as a whole. It speaks volumes when a company invests in me, and drives me to invest in the company.

- Blair Weeks

ST Engineering

TRANSFORMING B A P T I S T for the F U T U R E A New Hospital A Reimagined E Street Campus Baptist is building a new main hospital at the intersection of Brent Lane and I-110 in Pensacola. We plan to open in summer 2023.

This new facility will keep us close to our current main hospital location and will offer greater access, enhanced technology and a concentration of related services, making it easier and more convenient to deliver better care to those we serve.

More good news— Baptist will maintain a significant presence at our E Street Pensacola location. We look forward to working with community partners to ensure that the new version of this campus is designed to best serve local needs.

eB A PT I ST H E A LT H C A R E . O R G July 25, 2019

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inweekly.net

calendar and 1 p.m. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS: AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT AWARDS AND VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION LUNCHEON 11 a.m.-1 p.m. $25.

Wahoos Stadium / Courtesy Photo

THURSDAY 7.25

WORK ON THE FLORIDA TRAIL 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Every Thursday. Three miles north of Deaton Bridge Road. meetup.com/ftawesterngate YOGA WITHIN REACH 9-10 a.m. Free. Community Health Northwest Florida, 2315 W. Jackson St., Room A. healthcarewithinreach.org ONCE UPON A SHOE (SCHOOL SHOW) 10 a.m.

Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. pensacolalittletheatre.com HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS & RESPONSE 10:30 a.m. Free. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org AWM WINE TASTING 5-7 p.m. Free. Aragon Wine Market, 27 S. 9th Ave. facebook.com/ aragonwine DOLCE AND DRAG.ONS 6 p.m. Frozé and house wine specials. Music, bingo and drag. Dolce and Gelato, 2050 N. 12th Ave. facebook.com/dolcegelatopensacola SELECT A SECRET INGREDIENT COOKING CLASS 6 p.m. $60. Bodacious, 407-D S. Palafox.

sogourmetpensacola.com

END OF THE LINE THURSDAY DINNER 6-9 p.m.

End of the Line Café, 610 E. Wright St. Sign up for the newsletter for menu. eotlcafe.com

ZUMBA WITH SHANNON AND FRIENDS 6-7 p.m. $4. Homestead Community Center, 7830 Pine Forest Road.

MEDITATION AND ENERGY HEALING 6 p.m.

Free. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org ADRON CHAMBERS YOGA 6:30 p.m. Donation-based yoga with Adron Chambers every Tuesday and Thursday. Asher & Bee Apothecary and Tea House, 7 E. Gregory St. facebook.com/asherandbee BLUE WAHOOS VS. MOBILE BAYBEARS 6:35 p.m. $5 and up. Blue Wahoos Stadium, 351 W. Cedar St. bluewahoos.com ZACH DEPUTY 7 p.m. $15-$20. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. vinylmusichall.com

Pensacola Yacht Club, 1897 Cypress St. BINGSU & CHILL: A POP-UP EVENT 12-3 p.m.

Every Friday through Aug. 30. Asher & Bee Apothecary and Tea House, 7 E. Gregory St. facebook.com/asherandbee THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM 1 p.m. $7. Film screening. Studer Community Institute, 220 W. Garden St. pensacolacinemaart.com WAFFLE HOUSE FOOD TRUCK 4 p.m. Onsite through July 28. Perfect Plain Brewing Co., 50 E. Garden St. facebook.com/perfectplainbrewingco GARDEN AND GRAIN CRAFT COCKTAIL LAB 5 p.m. Perfect Plain Brewing Co., 50 E. Garden St. facebook.com/perfectplainbrewingco HAPPY HOUR COOKOUTS 5 p.m. Drink specials, free cookout. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com PENSACOLA PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY 6:30-9:30 p.m. Hosted by Pensacola Dream Defenders.

Fricker Community Center, 900 N. F St. facebook.com/dreamdefenderspensacola BLUE WAHOOS VS. MOBILE BAYBEARS 6:35 p.m. $5 and up. Blue Wahoos Stadium, 351 W. Cedar St. bluewahoos.com STARGAZING 7 p.m. Fort Pickens at Battery Worth, 1400 Fort Pickens Road. visitpensacolabeach.com/events OPEN MIC 7-11 p.m. Café Single Fin, 380 N. 9th Ave. facebook.com/cafesinglefin AMERICAN FLOYD: A TRIBUTE TO PINK FLOYD

FRIDAY 7.26

7 p.m. $12-$15. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. vinylmusichall.com CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG 7:30 p.m. $16.

Summer High School Onstage Workshop production. Pensacola State College Ashmore Auditorium, 1000 College Blvd. pensacolastate.edu BARZ AND GUITARZ 8-11 p.m. Starcult, The Spillers, MyBrothaVan, and Surrounder. chizuko, 506 W. Belmont St. facebook.com/ chizukopensacola

Library, 239 N. Spring St. mywfpl.com

SATURDAY 7.27

and 2 p.m. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. pensacolalittletheatre.com EVER'MAN COOKS: KIDS KITCHEN 11 a.m.

of West Florida, Rec Plex North Field, 11000 University Parkway. parkrun.us/recplexnorth SANTA ROSA FARMERS MARKET 9 a.m.-1

WHITE TIE ROCK ENSEMBLE: AN EVENING OF SUMMER ROCK 8 p.m. $18-$38. Saenger The-

atre, 118 S. Palafox. pensacolasaenger.com

ONE-ON-ONE TECH HELP 10 a.m. Pensacola ONCE UPON A SHOE (SCHOOL SHOW) 10 a.m.

PARKRUN/WALK MEETUP 7:30 a.m. University

p.m. Fresh local produce, honey, baked goods and live music. Pace Presbyterian Church, Woodbine Road.

PALAFOX MARKET 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Fresh produce, live plants, baked goods, fine art and antiques.

Items originate directly from participating vendors, including dozens of local farmers, home gardeners and area artists. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, N. Palafox. palafoxmarket.com YOU SELL IT HERE FARMER'S MARKET 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free admission. Every Saturday. 8600 Pensacola Blvd., facebook.com/yousellithere OCEAN HOUR CLEAN-UPS 9-10 a.m. Park West and Dog Park West, Fort Pickens, 1400 Fort Pickens Road. oceanhourfl.com CASINO BEACH BAR AND GRILL FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY 10 a.m. 41 Fort Pick-

ens Road, Pensacola Beach. facebook.com/ casinobeachbar ONCE UPON A SHOE 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. $7-$13.

Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. pensacolalittletheatre.com NATURALLY SIMPLE SLEEP SOLUTIONS 11 a.m.

Free. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM 1 p.m. $7. Film screening. Studer Community Institute, 220 W. Garden St. pensacolacinemaart.com NATURAL HEALING/CANCER STUDY: THE TRUTH ABOUT DIABETES Free. Ever'man Edu-

cational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org POT ROAST & PINOT 6TH BIRTHDAY SPIRITS TASTING 3-5 p.m. $10. Pot Roast & Pinot, 11-B S.

Palafox. potroastpinot.com

WALKING CEMETERY TOURS 5:30 p.m. $12

plus tax. St. John's Historic Cemetery, 301 N. G St. goretro.us

PENSACOLA SURVIVOR'S 2ND ANNUAL SPEAKEASY GALA 6-11 p.m. $44-$65.

Museum of Commerce, 201 E. Zaragoza St. facebook.com/pensacolasurvivors THE VOICE: A VOCAL MEDITATION 6:307:30 p.m. Asher and Bee Apothecary and Tea House, 7 E. Gregory St. facebook.com/ asherandbee ARRANT KNAVERY PRESENTS BARD OR BUST: FALSE FACE, FALSE HEART 7-10 p.m. $12.

Pensacola Opera, 75 S. Tarragona St. facebook. com/arrantknavery DANCE PARTY 7 p.m.-midnight. $10 workshop, $10 party. No partner required. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. dancecraftstudios.com CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG 7:30 p.m. $16.

Adoption • Paternity • Dependency/DCF Hearings Prenuptial Agreements • Postnuptial Agreements Divorce • Child Custody and Timesharing Child Support • Child Support Modifications Alimony • Collaborative Divorce • Divorce Mediation • Pre-Suit Family Law Mediation

www.radiofreepensacola.com July 25, 2019

127 Palafox Place Suite 100 (850)466-3115 autumnbeckblackledge.com 17

calendar Summer High School Onstage Workshop production. Pensacola State College Ashmore Auditorium, 1000 College Blvd. pensacolastate.edu

SUNDAY 7.28

THEMED BRUNCH AT PERFECT PLAIN 10 a.m.

Perfect Plain Brewing Co., 50 E. Garden St. facebook.com/perfectplainbrewingco BRUNCH WITH LIVE MUSIC 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Café Single Fin, 380 N. 9th Ave. facebook.com/ cafesinglefin TRANSMISSION GROUP WORLD SERVICE MEDITATION 10:30 a.m. Free. Ever'man

Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org VEGAN BRUNCH 11 a.m.-2 p.m. End of the Line Café, 610 E. Wright St. Sign up for the newsletter for menu. eotlcafe.com SUNDAY BRUNCH AT H20 11 a.m. $28.95 for adults. Free valet parking and 15 percent off with local ID. H20 Hilton, 12 Via de Luna Drive. facebook.com/hiltonpensacolabeach CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG 2:30 p.m. $16.

Summer High School Onstage Workshop production. Pensacola State College Ashmore Auditorium, 1000 College Blvd. pensacolastate.edu ONCE UPON A SHOE 3 p.m. $7-$13. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. pensacolalittletheatre.com SUNDAY SUPPER BENEFITING GULF COAST KID'S HOUSE 5-9 p.m. $40. Cypress Pensacola,

1124 W. Garden St. cypresspensacola.com

818 1

BLUES ON THE BAY 6 p.m. Free. Bay Bridge Band. Community Maritime Park, 351 W. Cedar St. cityofpensacola.com

MONDAY 7.29

RESUME HELP 11 a.m. Molino Branch Library,

6450-A Highway 95A. mywfpl.com

BEAT THE HEAT: RETHINK YOUR DRINK WITH FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Free.

Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org PILATES MAT 1:30 p.m. Free. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org CRAZY CUPCAKES CLASS 5:30 p.m. $40. Henny Penny's Patisserie, 4412 W. Jackson. facebook. com/hennypennyspatisserie BUTTERCREAM TECHNIQUES CLASS 5:30 p.m. $40. Henny Penny's Patisserie, 4412 W. Jackson. facebook.com/hennypennyspatisserie SEVILLE QUARTER MILERS 6 p.m. Runners meet in front of Seville Quarter for a run around downtown Pensacola. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com

TUESDAY 7.30

YOGA WITHIN REACH 9-10 a.m. Free. Community Health Northwest Florida, 2315 W. Jackson St., Room A. healthcarewithinreach.org BLUE ANGELS PRACTICE 11:30 a.m. National Naval Aviation Museum viewing area, 1878 S. Blue Angel Parkway. Use West Gate Entrance.

TRYON FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT 4 p.m. Tryon Branch Library, 1200 Langley Ave. mywfpl.com COMPLIMENTARY WINE TASTING 4-6 p.m.

Bodacious, 407-D S. Palafox. sogourmetpensacola.com WUWF BOOK CLUB SALON 5 p.m. Informal meeting of book club members and non-members. Pot Roast and Pinot, 11-B S. Palafox. Sign up for the book club at wuwf. pbc.guru WALKING CEMETERY TOURS 5:30 p.m. $12 plus tax. St. John's Historic Cemetery, 301 N. G St. goretro.us FUNKY YOGA 6 p.m. Free. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org FLAVORS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: MOROCCO & NORTH AFRICA 6-7:30 p.m. $40.

Henny Penny's Patisserie, 4412 W. Jackson. facebook.com/hennypennyspatisserie ZUMBA WITH SHANNON AND FRIENDS 6-7 p.m. $4. Homestead Community Center, 7830 Pine Forest Road.

ADRON CHAMBERS YOGA 6:30 p.m. Donation-based yoga with Adron Chambers every Tuesday and Thursday. Asher & Bee Apothecary and Tea House, 7 E. Gregory St. facebook.com/asherandbee BLACK MOON RISING 6:30 p.m. $7. Asher & Bee Apothecary and Tea House, 7 E. Gregory St. facebook.com/asherandbee COUNTRY TWO-STEP DANCING 6:30 p.m. $12.

Whiskey Runners Saloon. 610 East Nine Mile Road. dancecraftstudios.com BANDS ON THE BEACH 7-9 p.m. Free. Tyler Mac. Gulfside Pavilion at Casino Beach. visitpensacolabeach.com

WEDNESDAY 7.31

PILATES FUSION 10:30 a.m. Free. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org POTTERFEST 2019 12-10 p.m. Perfect Plain Brewing Co., 50 E. Garden St. facebook. com/perfectplainbrewingco ONE-ON-ONE TECH HELP 3 p.m. Pensacola Library, 239 N. Spring St. mywfpl.com WAGGY WEDNESDAYS WITH PENSACOLA HUMANE SOCIETY 4-7 p.m. Pet themed games

and prizes. Through Sept. 18. Island Culture Tiki Bar, 17 Via De Luna Drive. $1 from every Tito's Vodka sale benefits Pensacola Humane Society. pensacolahumane.org VEGAN AND VINO SUNDAYS 4-7 p.m.

Skopelos at New World, 600 S. Palafox AFRICAN DANCE FITNESS 5:30 p.m. Every Wednesday. Henny Penny's Patisserie, 4412 W. Jackson. facebook.com/ facebook.com/ hennypennyspatisserie YOGA FLOW 6-7 p.m. Free. Ever'man Educational Center, 327 W. Garden St. everman.org WEST COAST SWING DANCING 6:30 p.m. $12. Whiskey Runners Saloon, 610 E. Nine Mile Road. dancecraftstudios.com ERIC LINDELL 7-9 p.m. Free beach goodie bag for first 500 attendees. Bamboo Willie's Beachside Bar, 400 Quietwater Beach Road. for more listings visit inweekly.net

inweekly.net

Sweet Betsy Tattoos would like to welcome

Hairdo Pensacola Style Studio to the shop.

Join us for the grand opening luau

SUNDAY AUG. 4TH • 2-8PM

at the Corner of Garden & H Streets SBT Tattooers: Betsy Badwater & Ali Roudabush 850-712-5375

Hairdo Stylists: Michelle Garner, Chloe Fury & Becca Ingram 251-626-9225

1501 West Garden Street

Facebook.com/SweetBetsyTattoos

Please bring a food donation for Manna Pantries.

July 25, 2019

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free will astrology WEEK OF JULY 25 ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): After analyzing unusual animal behavior, magnetic fluctuations, outbreaks of mayhem on Twitter and the position of the moon, a psychic has foretold that a moderate earthquake will rumble through the St. Louis, Mo., area in the coming weeks. I don't agree with her prophecy. But I have a prediction of my own. Using data about how cosmic forces are conspiring to amuse and titillate your rapture chakra, I predict a major lovequake for many Aries between now and August 20. I suggest you start preparing immediately. How? Brainstorm about adventures and breakthroughs that will boost exciting togetherness. Get yourself in the frame of mind to seek out collaborative catharses that evoke both sensory delights and spiritual insights.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): "Tell me what you pay attention to, and I will tell you who you are," wrote Taurus philosopher José Ortega y Gasset. You could use that idea to achieve a finer grade of peace and grace in the coming weeks. The navelgazing phase of your yearly cycle has begun, which means you'll be in closest alignment with cosmic rhythms if you get to know yourself much better. One of the best ways to do that is to analyze what you pay most attention to. Another excellent way is to expand and refine and tenderize your feelings for what you pay most attention to.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Uruguayan

author Eduardo Galeano wrote that in Havana, people refer to their friends as mi sangre, my blood, or mi tierra, my country. In Caracas, he reported, a friend might be called mi llave, my key, or mi pana, my bread. Since you are in the alliance-boosting phase of your cycle, Gemini, I trust that you will find good reasons to think of your comrades as your blood, your country, your key or your bread.

It's a favorable time for you to get closer, more personal and more intimate. The affectionate depths are calling to you.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Your emotional intelligence is so strong right now that I bet you could alleviate the pain of a loved one even as you soothe a long-running ache of your own. You're so spiritually alluring, I suspect you could arouse the sacred yearning of a guru, saint or bodhisattva. You're so interesting, someone might write a poem or story about you. You're so overflowing with a lust for life that you might lift people out of their ruts just by being in their presence.

You're so smart you could come up with at least a partial solution to a riddle whose solution has evaded you for a long time.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): The Queen of

North America and Europe called me on the phone. At least that's how she identified herself. "I have a message for your Leo readers," she told me. "Why Leo?" I asked.

"Because I'm a Leo myself," she replied, 222 2

By Rob Brezsny

"and I know what my tribe needs to know right now." I said, "OK. Give it to me." "Tell Leos to always keep in mind the difference between healthy pride and debilitating hubris," she said. "Tell them to be dazzlingly and daringly competent without becoming bossy and egomaniacal. They should disappear their arrogance but nourish their mandate to express leadership and serve as a role model. Be shiny and bright but not glaring and blinding. Be irresistible but not envy-inducing."

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Congrats,

Virgo! You are beginning the denouement of your yearly cycle. Anything you do to resolve lingering conflicts and finish up old business will yield fertile rewards. Fate will conspire benevolently in your behalf as you bid final goodbyes to the influences you'll be smart not to drag along with you into the new cycle that will begin in a few weeks. To inspire your holy work, I give you this poem

by Virgo poet Charles Wright—"Knot by knot I untie myself from the past / And let it rise away from me like a balloon. / What a small thing it becomes. / What a bright tweak at the vanishing point, blue on blue."

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): I predict that between now and the end of the year, a Libran genetic engineer will create a new species of animal called a dat. A cross between a cat and a dog, it will have the grace, independence and vigilance of a Persian cat and the geniality, loyalty and ebullient strength of a golden retriever. Its stalking skills will synthesize the cat's and dog's different styles of hunting. I also predict that in the coming months, you will achieve greater harmony between the cat and dog aspects of your own nature, thereby acquiring some of the hybrid talents of the dat.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Scorpio

poet Marianne Moore (1887–1972) won the Pulitzer Prize and several other prestigious awards. She was a rare poet who became a celebrity. That's one of the reasons why the Ford car company asked her to dream up interesting names for a new model they were manufacturing. Alas, Ford decided the 43 possibilities she presented were too poetic and rejected all of them. But some of Moore's names are apt descriptors for the roles you could and should play in the phase you're beginning, so I'm offering them for your use. Here they are—1. Anticipator. 2.

The Impeccable. 3. Tonnere Alifère (French term for "winged thunder"). 4. Tir á l'arc (French term for "bull's eye"). 5. Regina-Rex (Latin terms for "queen" and "king").

assembled by Italian diplomat Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, who journeyed from Rome to Mongolia in the thirteenth century?

Here's why I'm entertaining these thoughts, Sagittarius—I suspect that a similar itch to ramble and explore and seek adventure may rise up in you during the coming weeks. I won't be surprised if you consider making a foray to the edge of your known world.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): When

the dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago, the crocodiles didn't. They were around for 135 million years before that era and are still here now. Why? "They are extremely tough and robust," says croc expert James Perran Ross. Their immune systems "are just incredible." Maybe best of all, they "learn quickly and adapt to changes in their situation." In accordance with the astrological omens, I'm naming the crocodile as your creature teacher for the coming weeks. I suspect you will be able to call on a comparable version of their will to thrive. (Read more about crocs: tinyurl. com/toughandrobust.)

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): "My only hope is that one day I can love myself as much as I love you." Poet Mariah GordonDyke wrote that to a lover and now I'm offering it to you as you begin your Season of Self-Love. You've passed through other Seasons of Self-Love in the past, but none of them has ever had such rich potential to deepen and ripen your self-love. I bet you'll discover new secrets about how to love yourself with the same intensity you have loved your most treasured allies.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): "Poems can bring comfort," writes Piscean poet Jane Hirshfield. "They let us know . . . that we are not alone—but they also unseat us and make us more susceptible, larger, elastic. They foment revolutions of awareness and allow the complex, uncertain, actual world to enter." According to my understanding of upcoming astrological omens, Pisces, life itself will soon be like the poems Hirshfield describes—unruly yet comforting; a source of solace but also a catalyst for transformation; bringing you healing and support but also asking you to rise up and reinvent yourself. Sounds like fun!

THIS WEEK'S HOMEWORK: What's the most amazing feat you ever pulled off? What will you do for your next amazing feat? Truthrooster@gmail.com.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): It's

conceivable that in one of your past lives you were a pioneer who made the rough 2,170-mile migration via wagon train from Missouri to Oregon in the 1830s. Or maybe you were a sailor who accompanied the Viking Leif Eriksson in his travels to the New World five hundred years before Columbus.

Is it possible you were part of the team

freewillastrology.com

freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com Rob Brezsny © Copyright 2019

inweekly.net

news of the weird

LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINAL In Shawnee, Oklahoma, Brandon Killian, 29, was already in trouble for brutally beating Jarric Carolina in a June brawl. But as he sat in custody, he told an officer that his face was injured from being "first socked" during the fight. When the officer left the room to get a camera, Killian, who was being recorded, punched himself multiple times in the face (strangely using one hand to propel the other fist into his cheek). Now his charges include preparing false evidence, KFOR reported. "Lying to the police and creating a false report will not be tolerated," warned District Attorney Allan Grubb. Killian is currently serving time in the Oklahoma County Jail for a separate drug court violation.

EWWWW Jung Soon Wypcha, 66, took retail competition to a new level in Indian Shores, Florida, in June, where over several days she sabotaged Lu Lu's Ice Cream shop, located next door to her Indian Shores Food Mart. The two shops share a bathroom, and starting on June 17, video showed Wypcha (1) used the bathroom with the door open and didn't wash her hands, then went to the ice cream freezer and put her hands into the containers; (2) picked her nose, then put her hands into the containers; (3) spit into the containers.

Wypcha's piece de resistance took place on June 22, when she urinated into an ice

Supply Drive For West Pensacola Elementary

cream bucket, then dumped the bucket in a sink where ice cream utensils and bowls are washed. Lu Lu's owner Paul Chiulli told the Tampa Bay Times that Wypcha ruined $2,000 worth of ice cream and forced his shop to close for five days. She was charged with criminal mischief and tampering with consumer products, both felonies.

NEWS YOU CAN USE Car rental companies in Japan began noticing last summer that some customers were putting very few miles on their vehicles, so they conducted surveys to find out what renters are using the cars for, reported The Asahi Shimbun, and discovered that one in eight renters were using cars for something besides transportation, to wit: napping (most popular activity), talking on the phone, eating lunch, watching TV, putting on Halloween costumes and doing stretches said to reduce the size of their face. One respondent said she uses rented cars to store bags and other belongings because coin-operated lockers are sometimes all in use. Renting is cheap in Japan, costing only a few hundred yen (several dollars).

BIRD BRAIN Ted Richards of Bristol, England, isn't your run-of-the-mill bird lover. He admires parrots so much that he has had his face tattooed with feathers and his eyes colored with tattoo ink, risking blindness. HuffPost reported that Richards, who goes by Ted Parrotman, also had his ears removed, which has impaired his hearing. "Parrots only got little holes anyways, so I had them cut off," he said. "I didn't think about the complications, you know?

Because if you looked at negative all the time, you'd never do anything." Well said, Parrotman. Well said. {in}

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ABIGAIL DOWD

EXCUUUUUUSE ME! Clay County (Missouri) Sheriff's officers didn't have to put their tracking skills to much use as they searched for a fugitive in early July near Liberty, Missouri, according to Fox2. The unnamed man, who was wanted for possession of a controlled substance, gave himself away by loudly passing gas in his hiding spot. Deputies noted on Facebook: "If you've got a felony warrant for your arrest, the cops are looking for you and you pass gas so loud it gives up your hiding spot, you're definitely having a (poop emoji) day."

By the Editors at Andrews McMeel

From Andrews McMeel Syndication News Of The Weird Š 2019 Andrews McMeel

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

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Independent News | July 25, 2019 | inweekly.net