An Interview with Sean Mullins of Pensacola Vibes
Independent News | September 23, 2021 | Volume 22 | Number 38 | Photo by Sean Mullins
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Emerging Business of the Year
This award is open to businesses who started in the last two years and have had success introducing their product or service. Businesses recognized in this category are run by great leadership, show a promising vision for the future, and have created a mission statement that aligns with their core values.
Medium/Large Business of the Year
This award is open to businesses who have more than 50 employees that have been adaptable to change over the past year, have displayed economic growth, and provide opportunities for their employees to improve their skills in an ever-changing environment.
Non-Profit of the Year
This award recognizes a nonprofit organization that shows dedication for improving the quality of life in the community through volunteering, partnerships, or fundraising. Winners will be able to share how they have effectively used these skills to further their mission and improve the community.
Veteran-Owned Business of the Year
This award recognizes a veteran-owned small business that has attained outstanding business achievement while showing social responsibility, creativity, and leadership; all to improve and grow the community.
This award is open to businesses who have less than ten employees and operate efficiently with a small team while positively impacting the local economy. Businesses considered for this award can clearly explain what makes their product or service unique, how they measure success and what opportunities they provide their employees.
Employer of the Year
This award is for businesses with an outstanding and supportive work environment with a focus on great training programs, an understanding of work-life balance, and career progression. Employers recognized in this category inspire and motivate their growing, diverse staff with equal opportunity programs.
This award is open to businesses who have less than 50 employees that focus on employee inclusion, community involvement and innovation in their business practices. Businesses considered for this award can clearly explain what makes their product or service unique, how they measure success and what opportunities they provide their employees.
Entrepreneur of the Year
This award recognizes an entrepreneur who has a creative product or service that solves a problem in the marketplace. They are highly ambitious, serve as community leaders, and work to improve the quality of life for others through either employment or serving others.
Minority-Owned Business of the Year Female-Owned Business of the Year This award recognizes a minority-owned small business that has attained outstanding business achievement while showing social responsibility, creativity, and leadership; all to improve and grow the community.
This award recognizes a women-owned small business that has attained outstanding business achievement while showing social responsibility, creativity, and leadership; all to improve and grow the community.
Young Entrepreneur of the Year
This award recognizes a small business owner who has successfully launched and grown their business before the age of 30. This person demonstrates an entrepreneurial spirit by applying business knowledge, growth potential and success in the operation of their business. They also prove to be a great example to other young individuals.
The John Myslak Award for Servant Leadership
This award is given to a leader who enriches the lives of others, builds better organizations, and ultimately helps create a more just and caring world. That is what our friend and colleague John Myslak did in our community, and we honor his memory by recognizing others who live their lives as fully as he did.
BUSINESS
Small Business of the Year
Micro-Business of the Year
Smart Business of the Year
This award recognizes a business that has used advanced or cutting-edge technology to advance their business or make a difference in their industry in response to challenges due to COVID-19.
Community Vibrancy Award
So many of our communities, organizations, small businesses, nonprofits, and individuals are doing amazing things to make our communities better and to help create vibrancy. They have shown us they are resourceful, inventive, and really creative. Do you have a story to tell? If you know of a group or individual who is making life better for others in the community, we want to hear about it. Send in your bright ideas and success stories of what’s working – regardless of the size of the program.
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“One of the greatest that was ever on the stage at the Opry.” —Dolly Parton
winners & losers
A FILM BY WSRE FEATURING BILL ANDERSON JIMMY CAPPS DAVE COBB RALPH EMERY CRYSTAL GAYLE VINCE GILL WILLIAM LEE GOLDEN BUDDY KALB HANK ADAM LOCKLIN DOLLY PARTON CHARLEY PRIDE JEANNIE SEELY RAY STEVENS ALAN STOKER MARTY STUART JESSE WELLS DWIGHT YOAKAM
Kendra Riley / Courtesy of University of West Florida
With football season in full swing, the Winners & Locals cubicle of the Inweekly media empire took off on a road trip and sent in this all-winners version of their weekly column.
KENDRA RILEY The University of West
Florida named Riley its deputy chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator. In this role, she will be responsible for overseeing the University's compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other laws and rules relating to discrimination based on sex or gender. The DCDO and Title IX coordinator supports the development and oversight of short-term and long-range diversity planning that aligns with the University's Diversity Plan and serves as the University's primary administrator for cases alleging misconduct, gender-based discrimination, harassment, intimate partner violence and stalking for students, faculty and staff.
ROB HOGAN On Thursday, Sept. 16, the
Board of County Commissioners confirmed the hiring of Hogan as the new director of facilities management. He brings more than 24 years of management experience and more than 20 years of progressive facility management and construction experience. Hogan most recently has served as the director of facilities and interim director of purchasing for Union County College in Cranford, N.J., since 2016.
FREE FILM SCREENING 7PM THURSDAY | SEPT 30
CAITLIN CERAME Cerame has been
Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio Pensacola State College
Major funding was provided in part by a Country Music Community Engagement Grant from WETA, Washington, DC; The Bear Family Foundation; Jacque Falzone; McKenzie Buick GMC; Patricia R. Dyehouse; Bobby and Karen Emmons; Flora-Bama Lounge, Package & Oyster Bar and the Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival; Tom and Jane McMillan; Michael V. Riesberg, MD; Pam and Harry Schwartz; Videau Family Charitable Trust; Pat Windham.
Country Music is a production of Florentine Films and WETA, Washington, DC, and is directed by Ken Burns. Funding for Country Music was provided by Bank of America, the Annenberg Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Belmont University, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Rosalind P. Walter and by members of ‘The Better Angels Society,’ including: The Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Schwartz/Reisman Foundation, the Pfeil Foundation, Diane and Hal Brierley, John and Catherine Debs, the Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, the Perry and Donna Golkin Family Foundation, Jay Alix and Una Jackman, Mercedes T. Bass, Fred and Donna Seigel, Gilchrist and Amy Berg, James R. Berdell Foundation, David Bonderman, Deborah P. and Jonathan T. Dawson, Senator Bill and Tracy Frist, Susan and David Kreisman, Rocco and Debby Landesman, Lillian Lovelace, John and Leslie McQuown, Mindy’s Hope Foundation, the Segal Family Foundation, Michelle Smith. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS. Image courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry Archives. Photo by Les Leverett.
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selected as the new Transportation planner for the City of Pensacola. She will be responsible for developing and overseeing the City's Complete Streets Program, which includes transportation planning for bicycles and pedestrians, street safety, lighting, urban design and more. Cerame joins the city from the Emerald Coast Regional Council, where she most recently served as a Planner III, responsible for bicycle and pedestrian planning assistance to three Transportation Planning Organizations in Northwest Florida.
NHS AT WEST FLORIDA HIGH For the
past two weeks, the National Honor Society chapter at West Florida High School has collected diapers, wipes and baby formula for victims of Hurricane Ida in Southeast Louisiana. Club sponsor Teresa Doman and her NHS students collected over 1500 diapers and numerous boxes of baby wipes and formula for donation. The donations were delivered to Lorium Law, a Pensacola law firm, who transported them to Louisiana over the weekend.
VANGUARD PACIFIC LLC The Gulf Breeze company has been awarded a $2 million contract to work on the GSA building in Tallahassee. Vanguard Pacific is a woman-owned and service-disabled-veteran-owned small business that specializes in construction and disaster prevention.
FIREFIGHTERS & CORRECTION OFFICERS Escambia County last week
announced it had reached agreements with both the Escambia County Professional Firefighters, I.A.F.F. Local 4131, and the Florida Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (FPBA), representing the certified officers with the Corrections Department. The firefighters and correction officers have been without a collective bargaining agreement since Sept. 30, 2018. New management and a new HR director at the county made the difference.
PEN AIR FEDERAL CREDIT UNION On Tuesday, Sept. 14, Pen Air presented a check for $10,000 to the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation. Funds were collected through the Share It® debit card program over the course of 12 months. Share It® debit cards allow members to designate funds to the eligible school district of their choice— Escambia County, Fla.; Santa Rosa County, Fla.; and Baldwin County, Ala. For every signature-based debit card transaction made with a Share It® card, Pen Air will donate .01¢ at no cost to the cardholder. GULF POWER FOUNDATION Five local
charitable or nonprofit organizations received grants from the Gulf Power Foundation totaling more than $32,000. Each quarter, the Gulf Power Foundation accepts grant applications from charitable and nonprofit organizations from across Northwest Florida. A.K. Suter Elementary PTA received $3,825 to purchase Lego Robotics kits. Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC) received $8,500 to support Science Saturdays. Longleaf Alliance received $10,000 to expand cogongrass control in the Gulf Coast Plain Ecosystem Partnership Landscape. Matty Kelly Arts Foundation received $5,000 for its Warrior Arts program, and the YMCA of Northwest Florida received $5,000 to buy a BEAM Projector Activity System. inweekly.net
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TRUST THE FREE MARKET Once upon a time, Republicans agreed that less government interference in business was a good thing. Gov. Rick Scott proudly rolled back taxes and fees on businesses and eliminated what he saw as unnecessary regulations. Let owners run their businesses, and the free market will decide the winners and losers. When Scott ran for U.S. Senate in 2018, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the nation's leading small business advocacy organization, endorsed him. "Gov. Rick Scott has been a true champion for small business during his time as Florida's governor, and we believe he will continue to deliver for small business in the U.S. Senate," said NFIB President and CEO Juanita D. Duggan. "Gov. Scott has a tremendous record of cutting taxes for small business, saving Florida businesses more than $7 billion over the last seven years." Scott's successor, Ron DeSantis, believes state government should play a more prominent role in business owners' decisions. Starting last week, businesses that want to require their customers and visitors to show proof of vaccination became subject to a $5,000 fine. Earlier this month, he told reporters in Pensacola, "My philosophy is, as a governor, my job is to protect your individual freedom. My job is not to protect corporate freedom." Why not let customers decide whether they want to do businesses with places that offer a vaccinated environment? Some people may favor a restaurant, bar, bank or retail shop that does ask for proof of vaccination. Others may shun them. Let the local market decide, not the governor. Consumers make such choices every day. They choose restaurants based on ambiance, menu and service. Why not let them decide based on whether the place is fully vaccinated? Heck, we already let businesses tell customers they must wear shirts and shoes. I guess shirt and shoe passports are okay. Gov. Ron DeSantis believes showing one's vaccination card is divisive. He said, "I also don't want two classes of citizens. We have some people in our communities who just made the decision this is something that
they're not going to do. So what? You're going to write them out of society?" We've already written off the shirtless and shoeless folks. Maybe we should reconsider and worry about their individual freedom, too. Any business with a dress code needs to also cough up $5,000 in DeSantis world. While DeSantis likes interfering with businesses, he isn't too keen on President Joe Biden doing it. The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will soon issue a rule using emergency authority to require employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers get vaccinated or get tested weekly. Companies that don't comply with the rule could be fined nearly $14,000 per violation. Last week, Florida Attorney Gen. Ashley Moody and 23 other attorneys general warned President Biden of potential litigation surrounding the proposed COVID-19 vaccination mandate. The coalition of attorneys general outlined legal and policy concerns with the mandate, which will be carried out through an Occupational Safety and Health Act emergency temporary standard. The group warned against a one-sizefits-almost-all approach to curbing the pandemic and his intention "to use the OSHA statute as a pretext to impose an unprecedented, controversial public health measure on a nationwide basis that only incidentally concerns the workplace." There is concern that once OSHA issues its rule for larger businesses, it will expand it to all businesses. They are putting Florida business owners in an expensive tug of war. Either lose employees or lose customers. Neither decision helps profitability. If they believe their workers should make the call to get vaccinated, owners face fines. If their workers are vaccinated and the owners want to have a safer work environment, DeSantis will fine them. Neither Republicans nor Democrats trust business owners to do what's best for their employees, customers and bottom lines. I do. Let business owners decide, not federal and state bureaucrats. {in} rick@inweekly.net
Either lose employees or lose customers. Neither decision helps profitability.
September 23, 2021
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FRIED'S NOT WAITING
Nikki Fried / Photo Courtesy of Nikki Fried for Governor
By Rick Outzen Gov. Ron DeSantis has held daily press conferences across the state since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The other Republican Cabinet members— Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis—have followed his lead. The outlier has been Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried. Fried is the only Democrat on the Florida Cabinet and only member of her party that holds a statewide office. She has not been afraid to challenge DeSantis' stands against school boards and local governments enacting policies to curb the spread of COVID. She has been vocal on the governor's refusal to tap into federal dollars to provide food for children living in poverty and his discontinuance of the once-heralded COVID dashboard that was helpful for the public to understand how the virus was impacting their counties. And those are just a few of the fights Fried has taken to DeSantis. Oh, and there's one other issue. Fried is running for the Democratic nomination to unseat DeSantis in 2022. The Agriculture Commissioner recently had a phone interview with Inweekly. She talked about why she chose to forgo running for the second term and instead make a bid to be the state's first Democratic governor in more than two decades. "I'm somebody who my entire life has 66
stood up against injustice. When I see a wrong in society, it's my obligation to stand up," Fried said. "After 25 straight years of Republican rule in our state and especially where this governor has taken us to an extreme—listening to really only the radical right, and that's only about 20% of our state—I thought I had an obligation to challenge him because our state deserves so much better than what they have been getting from this governor."
"The people of our state want a rational, sensible, calm leader to get us through times like this, and we just are not seeing that from this governor." Nikki Fried She continued, "He creates division; he creates chaos. He yells at people who are in opposition to his beliefs. The people of our state want a rational, sensible, calm leader to get us through times like this, and we just are not seeing that from this governor." In 2018, Fried surprised everyone when she narrowly defeated State Rep. Matt Caldwell, winning by only 6,753 votes. Other Democrats didn't fare as well, but the top races were close, with DeSantis beating Andrew Gillum by 32, 463 votes and Rick Scott topping incumbent Bill Nelson by 10,033.
On her announcement to run for governor, Fried said, "I just felt like we had to put our best foot forward as Democrats, and I know I did it in 2018, and we can do it again in 2022." She admitted that she has been surprised about how her fellow Cabinet members have treated her because she had high expectations for working with DeSantis, Moody and Patronis. "All four of us under the age of 50 with young families," said Fried. "I had known Ashley Moody since undergrad and law school at the University of Florida and Jimmy Patronis from his days in the legislature. I really thought that this would be an opportunity for us to show the rest of the country how we can come together at the cabinet to govern our state. Unfortunately, that's just not what happened." Getting the cold shoulder hasn't held her back, she told Inweekly, "I'm somebody who's always up for a challenge. I don't get put into a corner very easily, and I don't take it very well. So it's given me an opportunity to really showcase the distinctions between our types of leadership and what it looks like for transparency and just honesty with the elected people with the people of our state." She added, "And so while I'm not always welcome to the room, I'm certainly there and leaving a voice that has not had a seat at the table for almost 25 years. I take on that challenge, and I deal with a smile on my face because I know that I am on the right side of history, and that's being on the right side of the people of our state." Conservative media outlets have touted DeSantis among the likely successors to Donald Trump. The governor has said he wants to make the rest of the nation like Florida. However, recent polls have shown him trailing Democrats Charlie Crist and Fried in the 2022 election. Inweekly asked why the polls aren't matching the narrative that DeSantis and his supporters are pushing. "Because the people of our state are finally waking up," said Fried. "They're seeing where this governor has taken the state. We first had an atrocious 2021 Legislative Session where they passed laws that were not in the best interest of the people of our state—making it harder for people to vote, making it easier to put people into jail and prison for coming to protest and speaking up, by going after transgender kids, asking for professors in colleges and universities to declare their partisan beliefs. And that's not where the people of our state are." She believes the past few months of the pandemic have revealed who DeSantis truly is—"he has been void of leadership, hasn't been here." Fried ran off a list of what she sees as DeSantis' leadership failures, saying the governor is taking positions that are "contrary to the people of our state and doing it in an
aggressive, angry, divisive way and empowering people that are not speaking truth." "Finally, finally, after one of our legislators had to sue, we are getting the numbers of our deaths per county. They stopped recording numbers months ago," said Fried. "He stopped talking about the vaccine and the pandemic at a time when Delta was going rampant through our state and hospitals were at capacity." She continued, "And then going after our school board members for trying to do what's right for their own communities. A poll came out today that showed 71% of our Floridians are in favor of allowing local control for masks when it comes to our schools." Fried also mentioned the governor's press conference on Monday, Sept. 13, where a Gainesville city employee falsely claimed that the COVID vaccine changes a patient's RNA and DeSantis didn't correct him. The following day, the governor told reporters he didn't hear the comment. "So he's now not only corrupt, but he's spreading lies and misinformation, and he's just a liar," said Fried. "The people of our state are finally waking up and saying, 'This is not who we want to be governing our state.' And that's why you're starting to see him decrease in polls. He's spending so much time outside of the state of Florida fundraising for his 2024 bid."
"I haven't waited my turn for anything in life, so we'll start there. But more importantly, the Democratic Party is looking for something new." Fried Traditionally, the Florida Democratic Party has put up experienced politicians to be its nominee for governor, with Andrew Gillum being a notable exception in 2018. Several polls have former GOP governor and currently Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist ahead of Fried for the nomination. Some party veterans locally have told Inweekly that Fried should wait her turn and step aside for Crist. "I haven't waited my turn for anything in life, so we'll start there," said Fried. "But more importantly, the Democratic Party is looking for something new. We have no choice not to put up our best candidate who's going to be able to beat Ron DeSantis." She continued, "This is a moment in history that we, as a state and as a nation, have to decide what is important to us. Are we going to defend democracy? Are we going to defend the things that are ingrained in our constitution? We need somebody who is a fierce fighter, somebody who has been a Democrat her whole entire life. And so our party is looking for that person, and that's going to be me." {in} inweekly.net
CAPTIVE AUDIENCE visitation for Escambia, will have an additional year on their contract.
"WHY IS GTL ALLOWED TO EXIST?"
By Jeremy Morrison For a while now, Escambia County has had some technical difficulties with the video visitation process at the jail. An attorney or a family member will attempt to meet with an inmate via the system only to see that effort derailed due to a technical glitch of one type or another. Overall, it's what Escambia County Corrections Director William Powell describes as "not a perfect system" and an issue that Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May has been hearing about for a while from frustrated defense attorneys or constituents with family or friends in jail. "They would tell me that the problem existed 18 months ago," May said during a Sept. 14 Escambia County Board of County Commissioners Committee of the Whole meeting. A year and a half of ongoing technical glitches might seem extreme—especially when they have the potential to interfere with attorney-client meetings. "Unfortunately, too many times, an attorney is the only sane person an inmate gets the opportunity to talk to," May said.
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"They're not only defense lawyers; they become mental health counselors; they become family members; they become just a breath of air for many of those inmates that do need to talk to people." One of the local defense attorneys who has brought up this issue to Commissioner May is Gene Mitchell. He outlined the experience for county commissioners. "When we make a complaint, we get one of three responses," Mitchell told them. "The first response might be no response at all. The second response is, 'Gene, we've looked into your complaint and everything's fine'— suggesting there's something wrong with my equipment or something like that. The third response we get is, 'We've changed out that video system, that particular station'—well, by my math, there's been so many times that I've been told we're changing out that station that by now we should have nothing but brand new stations." But, of course, the equipment is not new. It is apparently obsolete and at the root of this issue. Soon, however, it will all be replaced with new equipment—and Global Tel Link Corporation, the contractor managing both phone and video inmate
When an individual is in jail, they have the right to communicate with family and friends, as well as their attorneys. Traditionally, this communication took place face-to-face—albeit with a barrier of some type—within the facility, though phone visitations have also long been offered. In Escambia, since 2012, defense attorneys have also been able to meet with their incarcerated clients via a video conference. Since its inception through March 2020, that option was only used by attorneys 59 times. Then, the coronavirus hit, and suddenly there is a huge need for an alternative to meeting with inmates at the jail. Video conferences are made available to not just attorneys, who do not pay for this service, but also the wider visitor pool of family and friends who do pay. Since then, there has been a dramatic jump in the use of video calls. From January 2020 until earlier this month, there have been 63,747 video calls logged at Escambia's facilities, with more than 15,000 of those being labeled as professional or attorneys. "A staggering number," Williams noted during his presentation to county commissioners. With that increased use overburdening the aging infrastructure of the jail's video system, problems have begun to mount. "The hardware is 10-plus years old, and that's really where your issues are lying at," said Ashlee Douglas, accounts manager for GTL at the jail. Attorney Patrece Cashwell's experience—detailed in an email to Escambia County Attorney Alison Rogers—is illustrative of the situation—"Why is GTL allowed to exist in the jail when it does not work?" "Today at 10 a.m. I had a video visit scheduled. The audio was so bad that I tried to write a note so he could read it, but the video was so bad he couldn't even read!!!" Cashwell relayed her visit with a client.
"This isn't even addressing the citizens of Pensacola that pay dearly to visit with their loved ones in jail, and when the video or audio doesn't work, they do not get a refund; this company is stealing from the citizens." As a fix for this predicament, Escambia's commissioners are leaning toward striking a deal with GTL—in exchange for extending the company's contract to provide video and phone services for an additional year, the company will outfit Escambia's jail facilities with new equipment to ensure a steady connection for inmates, a service estimated to be worth around $200,000.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Technical difficulties aside, an extension of GTL's contract would be a big win for the company—And not too shabby for Escambia County, either, as both entities profit from the relationship. For starters, there's the phone service that inmates can use, which works fine as is with no upgrades needed. Talking to lawyers is free on this service, but anyone else costs 15 cents a minute. As Douglas pointed out to commissioners, that's 1 cent below the federally capped maximum of 16 cents. Last year, these inmate phone calls netted about a million dollars. Escambia County keeps 88% of that revenue, with the rest going to GTL. And then there are the video calls. Again, inmates may communicate with attorneys for free, but otherwise, it runs them $4.95 for half an hour. Unlike the arrangement of the phone service, the entirety of this revenue goes to GTL. Rustling beneath the larger conversation about securing reliable video service, Commissioner May made a plea for officials to work to lower costs faced by inmates trying to communicate with the outside world. "Whatever we can do to lower the cost," May said. "We are typically dealing with those who are sitting in the jail waiting for court, those at the lower socio-economic chain." {in}
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tions, said Evans. "The proposed test plan is definitely a move in the right direction. The contention is it will reduce the amount of time testing by 75%, but that's really only part of the issue. There was a tremendous amount of time taken up at the FSA with schools preparing for it." He added, "I would hope—the technical papers from the Department of Education have focused on this—that the new test connects to the curriculum and will not end with teachers spending tremendous amounts of time trying to prepare kids just for a test."
DITCHING TESTING Saying the state's
system of standardized testing in public schools is "quite frankly, outdated," Gov. Ron DeSantis last week announced that lawmakers will consider a proposal during the 2022 legislative session to end the Florida Standards Assessments. The statewide exams in English language arts and math, known as the FSA, are given annually to students in third through 10th grades. DeSantis said he wants to eliminate the exams and move to a different way of evaluating students. "We are going to be ending that, and we are going to be replacing it with progress monitoring, which many school districts are doing anyway. This is short, individualized check-in assessments three times per year. This will take hours, not days, to be able to do these assessments," DeSantis, flanked by legislators, education officials, teachers and parents, said during a news conference in Doral. DeSantis said the proposal would lead to assessing students in the fall, winter and spring, which would reduce the amount of time spent each year on testing. The state Department of Education said the proposed system will be dubbed F.A.S.T., Florida's Assessment of Student Thinking. The governor described the proposed system as more "nimble" than administering standardized tests at the end of each school year. "It also informs teachers in real time during the school year so that they can better help students. These progress monitoring tools will be customizable; it will even be unique to each student. It gives the ability to have timely data during the school year so you can make the necessary corrections," DeSantis said. 88
The move would make Florida the first state in the nation to "switch from end-ofthe-year assessments to state standardsaligned progress monitoring," according to a news release from the governor's office. Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida's Future, which Bush founded, released a statement that expressed support for part of the DeSantis proposal to move "statewide assessments to an online and adaptive testing approach," which she said "could provide teachers more flexibility to teach and students more time to learn, shorten testing time, allow tests to identify student performance more quickly and return results back to parents and teachers more expediently." But she said other parts of the proposal raise questions, such as whether changes could create "high stakes stressors on students three times a year" and whether the spring progress-monitoring test would "simply be a replacement for the end of year test and result in teachers having less time to cover the full year of content." Dr. Bill Evans, the chair and professor in the University of West Florida's Department of Teacher Education and Leadership, sees DeSantis' move as positive. He told Inweekly, "What parents and teachers have wanted is an assessment that would show student growth." The end-of-year assessments have been in place since Jeb Bush was governor. Evans pointed out the tests measured students against other classes and schools but didn't help parents and teachers to make adjustments during the school year. "The FSA (Florida Standards Assessments) don't show you the direction of growth, amount of growth or something that the teacher can do to change the condi-
UNDERHILL'S ETHICS PROBLEM In a closed-door meeting on Sept. 10, the State Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe that Commissioner Doug Underhill misused his position by publicly sharing or publishing confidential transcripts, including minutes from Escambia County Commission meetings. Probable cause also was found to believe the information he disclosed was only available to him as a public officer and gained by reason of his official position. Probable cause was found on three allegations that related to Mr. Underhill soliciting donations through a GoFundMe page, including soliciting donations from a vendor, lobbyist or principal of a lobbyist of the county, accepting prohibited donations to his personal legal defense fund from a vendor, lobbyist or the principal lobbyist of the county, and failing to disclose reportable gifts in excess of $100 on a Form 9, Quarterly Gift Disclosure. Regarding two additional allegations relating to the reporting of gifts, probable cause was found to believe Mr. Underhill failed to report on a Form 9, Quarterly Gift Disclosure, free personal legal services, provided by a law firm, as well as travel and shipping expenses provided to him by a nonprofit organization. Allegations Mr. Underhill published his GoFundMe legal defense fund to social media, solicited free legal services from a lobbyist/vendor, accepted free legal services from a lobbyist or vendor, had a conflicting employment or contracted relationship with the Pensacola Sports Association, Inc., and an allegation that Mr. Underhill solicited, and then accepted, reimbursement for travel and expenses from an organization that accepting funding from the county were dismissed with a finding of no probable cause. The Florida Commission on Ethics is an independent nine-member commission formed in 1974 to review complaints filed under the statutory Code of Ethics and to answer questions from public officials about potential conflicts of interest through its issuance of advisory opinions.
If the Ethics Commission believes a violation of the law may have occurred, it may decide to hold a public hearing. If it concludes a violation has been committed, it may recommend civil penalties including removal from office or employment and fines up to $10,000 per violation. Probable cause does not mean guilt, but the commission will now investigate seven of 13 allegations that the commissioner misused his position. Underhill told WEAR-TV, "I am very much looking forward to the investigation period of this. We're going to get to see some facts and see some of those things vetted in court. And I think, as with all of the other ones in the past, once you see the investigation go to actually get done and the facts be presented, I think that it'll come out very favorable."
CIVIL CITATIONS State Attorney Ginger Bowden wants to see law enforcement in Northwest Florida expand the use of civil citations when dealing with low-level offenses involving youth. "For example, if a youth gets into a schoolyard fight or commits a petty theft at the convenience store, a low-level misdemeanor offense like that," Bowden told Inweekly, "when the officer encounters the youth, the officer has the discretion to issue a citation, similar to a speeding ticket as opposed to criminally charging and detaining the youth." The goal of the citation is to divert the youth away from the juvenile justice system, intervene quickly to evaluate them, determine if there's some services that this youth possibly needs, get them involved in whatever it is that they need to become involved in, in an effort to address the underlying issue, what's causing the bad behavior. "Sometimes it's just a bonehead kid doing bonehead things and we're never going to see them again," she said, "But other times, it's a delinquent youth who has something going on in their life that's resulting in the behavior, and we really want to get to the root of it." In her June memorandum to area law enforcement, Madden enumerated specific crimes that she will not permit into the program. She said, "Those would be crimes that deal with firearms and deadly weapons, dating and domestic violence, any criminal behavior that's sexual in nature, animal cruelty. And the reason is because these are the types of offenses that really are not going to be able to be addressed within the program's parameters and the 90-day time limit." However, she did broaden the list of offenses that qualify for the citation if the officer deems it appropriate. Also instead of one citation, a youth can receive as many as three. inweekly.net
The state attorney said, "Sheriff Simmons and our new police chief, Eric Randall, are all very much in favor of it because it just gives a youth an opportunity for a more positive outcome without stigmatizing them with a criminal history, and that sometimes can just really interfere in their future plans." Bowden said she plans to meet annually with the sheriffs and police chiefs annually to review how well the expanded youth citation program is working.
SCULPTOR SELECTED On Friday, Sept. 17, the General Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr. Memorial Foundation announced it had selected Ed Dwight to sculpt the statue memorializing Gen. James at the landing of the new bridge across Pensacola Bay named in his honor. The announcement starts the countdown for the completion of the memorial plaza. Dedication is scheduled for the 75th birthday of the United States Air Force on Sept. 18, 2022. Fundraising efforts will commence in the beginning of October 2021. The City of Pensacola has committed $250,000 to begin work on the project. The elevated memorial plaza at the foot of the new bridge will consist of a statue of Gen. James, an F4 Phantom in flight and an 80-foot flagpole. The estimated cost of the project is $900,000, according to foundation chairman Cris Dosev. KUDOS FOR UWF U.S. News & World Report awarded the University of West Florida five Best Colleges award badges as symbols of excellence. UWF ranked among the top regional universities in the South in the following categories—Regional University South, Regional Public University South, Social Mobility, Best Colleges for Veterans and Undergraduate Nursing. "It was a great day for Florida," UWF President Dr. Martha Saunders told Inweekly. "All of the universities showed a lot of improvement. We remained in the top 20 of public universities in the South, but we
September 23, 2021
got five best colleges award badges, and that makes me particularly happy." U.S. News & World Report added undergraduate nursing as a new category this year. The UWF School of Nursing topped state and national averages for 2020 by wide margins, with 95.97% of its graduates passing the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurses on their first attempt. UWF surpassed the national average for first-time pass rate by over five percentage points and exceeded the state mark by nearly 10 points. UWF also ranked in the top 15 Best Colleges for Veterans, recognizing institutions that participate in federal initiatives helping veterans and active-duty service members pay for their degrees. The university is well known in the region for its support for veterans, active-duty service members and their dependents through the Military & Veterans Resource Center. Calling the badge concerning veterans "particularly satisfying," Saunders said, "The military is very much part of the culture on our campus. One out of every five students is military-affiliated, either as a dependent or a veteran or some active duty, so it's important that we serve our veterans." U.S. News & World Report bases its rankings by comparing institutions across the nation on 17 diverse academic measures. Changes to the rankings methodology this year include the introduction of two outcome measures pertaining to graduate indebtedness and reduced weight in the rankings to SAT/ACT scores, high school class standing and alumni giving rates. Only institutions that grant bachelor's degrees are eligible.
29TH ANNUAL SOUL BOWL The Soul
Bowl returns to Blue Wahoos Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 2. The full-day youth football festival pits the crosstown rival SYSA Tigers against the East Pensacola-Magee Field Rattlers in five different age-division games. The fun-filled day at the ballpark begins
with the first game kickoff at 9 a.m. with subsequent games following at 10:30 a.m., noon, 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Age divisions include 6-under, 8-under, 10-under, 12-under and 14-under. Gates will open at 8 a.m. Tickets purchased in advance are $8 and $10 on Saturday and include access to all five games. Tickets are available at bluewahoos.com. The 2021 Soul Bowl is made possible through the support of Troy Rafferty and Levin Papantonio Rafferty law firm and Cox Communications.
FOOD DISTRIBUTION State Rep. Mi-
chelle Salzman, Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry, Feeding the Gulf Coast, Pinewoods Presbyterian Church and Cantonment Improvement Committee are hosting a food distribution from 8-11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25. The food distribution will take place in Carver Park, 208 Webb St., Cantonment. The distribution will be on a first-come, first-served basis and will go until the entire 30,000 pounds have been handed out. There is no requirement to receive the food. Organizers will have a drive-through lane as well as a designated area for those who would like to walk to the park to receive their food. This event is set up to be reoccurring at the rate of once per quarter. The north end of the county needs more community outreach, and Salzman is working alongside stakeholders to try and fill in the gaps. There are several very active and capable organizations, such as the ones partnering in this food distribution.
FILL OUT SURVEY Escambia County is seeking community input to guide its spending plan for American Rescue Plan Act Funding. The public is asked to submit input to the Escambia County American Rescue Plan Survey at bit.ly/3kmM0B2 by 11:50 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30. The survey is available in English and Spanish online and at the community centers and libraries. Survey results will be presented at an upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting.
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) includes $61.7 million in direct local recovery assistance for Escambia County. The first half of the county's award has been received, totaling $30.9 million. The second half is comparable and will arrive approximately one year after the first payment. Escambia County's plan will follow the U.S. Treasury Departments Interim Final ARP Rule including allocating all funds prior to Dec. 31, 2024, and completing all expenditures by Dec. 31, 2026, as required. Escambia County recognizes the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the community and is committed to making investments for economic recovery and rebuilding.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Some Assembly Required is the Pensacola MESS Hall's remote fall fundraiser on Friday, Oct. 1. Participants will receive a set of activities along with special materials to enjoy hands-on discovery around the dinner table with their own friends and family. MESS Hall staff will engage participants through a Facebook Live feed to answer questions, share successes and highlight recent MESS Hall programming successes. Individual kits, suitable for one household, are $30. Sponsorships are available, providing larger numbers of kits to share with coworkers, friends and neighbors. Activities are designed to be engaging for adults, though kids can participate with adult assistance. "The Pensacola MESS Hall relies on community support to ensure that our programs are accessible and affordable," said Megan Pratt, executive director. "The pandemic has prohibited in-person fundraising events, but we are excited for this event, which will engage more people, including families, in discovery and learning more about the mission of the MESS Hall." Kits can be purchased online at bit. ly/3tYvHgL. Navy Federal Credit Union is the signature sponsor. {in}
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An Interview with Sean Mullins of Pensacola Vibes By Savannah Evanoff
Sean Mullins / Photo by Steven Gray
Sean Mullins knows what it takes to get the shot. The founder of Pensacola Vibes, a business known for its nature-driven Instagram profile with more than 40,000 followers, thinks it's all about living and photographing "in the moment." "I think 80% of the battle is being at the right spot at the right time, because not everyone's going to wake up for a sunrise photo," Mullins said. "Nine times out of 10, that's not going to be me. But a lot of people, since they're not there, they think the photo is amazing. And even when people are at the same location as you, just because you captured that moment, people love it. You have to be at the right spot at the right time … and climb to a certain spot that no one ever goes to." Mullins, 32, has a knack for finding that spot. 010 1
Knowing Your Audience
Mullins loves exploring the outdoors, shooting everything from nature trails to springs to the beach. And, of course, the Blue Angels. He discovered quickly what people like—Pensacola pride. "I knew that the audience I was going for was the people that loved nature and Pensacola," Mullins said. "The first Blue Angel video I ever did was, I swam out to halfway down the pier and I put the GoPro under the water, and as soon as the Blue Angels flew over the pier, I'd prop the GoPro above the water." The Blue Angels Facebook page shared it, taking his likes from 500 to 2,000 overnight. But Mullins was never in it for the likes. That's the key. "The number one thing is that you have
to not care and not overthink it," Mullins said. "Too many people are worried about when to post things, how many posts, and, obviously, there is somewhat of a gain to that … but raising an audience, it just came naturally, I guess you could say. And that's what I've been trying to do, to do everything organically, knowing that if I can get people that thoroughly enjoy my stuff to like my page, they're going to share it, and I'm not going to have to force people like, 'Hey, can you share my posts?' They actually want to." And as for how to capture a sunset photo that isn't just another sunset photo, Mullins, of course, has some thoughts. "If you were to ask me what kind of sunset I absolutely love, it's not the sun itself but the clouds," Mullins said. "If the clouds are lit up, I think that's much more moody
"You have to be at the right spot at the right time … and climb to a certain spot that no one ever goes to." Sean Mullins and it adds much more depth to the photo. If I can add three things in a photo, that's where I feel more accomplished, like if I can add the water with the sunset and the Blue Angels. I think that's the golden objective for me whenever I'm trying to take photos." Mullins' photography started with a GoPro that was a gift from his mother at Christmas one year while he was loosely into free diving. He took his GoPro around Bradenton and St. Pete, Fla., and posted pictures on Instagram. inweekly.net
"The Visit Florida account on Instagram shared a couple of my photos, and it definitely gave me the motivation to keep on doing it," Mullins said. "Then I was in Best Buy, and I was like, 'Man, I need to get a camera, like an actual camera that has WiFi connection, because I need to upload it to my phone right then and there.' I didn't want to go home and download the photos; I just wanted to take care of it right then and there. I got the Canon and then I got the drone for fun. Then I just got addicted to all that."
Finding Your 'Vibe'
Photography is a large departure from teenage Mullins' five-year plan. Mullins participated in JROTC in high school and went to University of West Florida for ROTC as a history major with the intent of joining the military. But frankly, he was over it. "In high school, I downloaded Photoshop illegally, and I was really big into designing things, so I guess I just kind of blinded myself to not knowing that that's what I was actually passionate about," Mullins said. "Now it's just insane to go downtown and have someone literally come up to me and say how thankful they are that I post these things and that I make their day or something like that. It's amazing." After college, Mullins worked at Waterboyz Surf Shop as a graphic designer. When he started, he didn't skimboard, surf or skate. "I was just the nerd in the back, on Photoshop with product photos," Mullins said. "Since it's an extreme sport kind of place, I just wanted to go outside and take photos of people getting in the water, and I think I just surrounded myself with like-minded people. Then, all of a sudden, I'm taking photos of the sunset and people liked that. It really motivated me to keep on doing it." He started Pensacola Vibes in 2015 after being asked to work on lifestyle brands for other people. He opted to start his own instead—and he did just that. In addition to a strong social media following, Pensacola Vibes has an online shop that sells prints, apparel and a variety of accessories (like those stickers you've probably seen around town more than a few times). "I already had tons of photos in my Google Drive of all these nature trails I've been on," Mullins said. "At the time, all I had was a GoPro. I've been the nerd going around nature trails with a little GoPro stick just taking photos. I'm not sure when, or how, I thought of the name of Pensacola Vibes. I think it was right in the highlight of when people started using the word 'vibes.' I came up with a name and I was like, 'Man, that kind of rolls off the tongue and sounds pretty memorable.'" It reaffirmed the principles of his advertising studies at UWF. "They always told us, 'Your target audience shouldn't be everyone; it should be a unique niche,'" Mullins said. "Pensacola being in the title of the company is pretty memorable, so I decided to go with that. I designed a logo, the website, Facebook September 23, 2021
page, all in one night, and I guess you can say the rest is history." His mother and gifter of that first camera, Leslie Mullins, absolutely loves Pensacola Vibes. "I'm a mama's boy to a T, so she supports me in anything and everything that I do," Mullins said.
"Get Outside"
Mullins does freelance photography, shooting portraits and real estate, but hopes to make Pensacola Vibes his "full, full-time job," he said. His mission with the brand, though, is not about making money; it's really just to get people outside.
"Anyone that says there's nothing to do in Pensacola obviously hasn't left their house." Mullins "Anyone that says there's nothing to do in Pensacola obviously hasn't left their house," Mullins said. "I can't tell you how many people will tell me they've lived here their entire life and they've never walked the pier. I'm like, 'Well, you need to do that. You might think it's boring, but it's actually a lot of fun.' You just gotta get off your butt and get outside." The thing that deters people is simple. They don't feel like doing it, he said. "People tell me all the time, 'Oh, you go to all these beautiful places,' and I'm like, 'You have a car,'" Mullins said. "It doesn't cost anything to go on these nature trails. This is me being an absolute hippie, but happiness is free. I mean, especially when all it takes is going out in nature." Mullins also runs Explore Pensacola Trails, a Facebook group where people can share photos and experiences on nature trails, and Panhandle Springs, an Instagram and Facebook dedicated to springs.
"It doesn't cost anything to go on these nature trails. This is me being an absolute hippie, but happiness is free. I mean, especially when all it takes is going out in nature." Mullins And all of it is socially distanced, so it's actually a really good time to start following and exploring if you aren't already. Most people don't know Mullins is the man behind Pensacola Vibes. That's intentional. "I try not to make it about me," Mullins said. "I do appreciate it and I know a lot of people do know it's me, but at the end of the day, it's not an ego thing. I don't want people to think Pensacola Vibes and think Sean Mullins. I want them to think Pensacola Vibes and think about how proud they are of the city." {in} PENSACOLA VIBES pensacolavibes.com @instagram.com/pensacolavibes 11
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WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23-29
Arts & Entertainment art, film, music, stage, books and other signs of civilization...
Reimagining Florida's Caribbean Roots By Gina Castro
"Vagabondaj Mawon: Sitadel" by Leah Gordon
Haiti's journey from the first point of colonialism in the Western hemisphere to the first Black Republic is as enchanting and mystical as it is real. This powerful transition rippled across oceans. Haiti's independence was an irrefutable blow to slavery everywhere. Slave-owning states in the U.S. extinguished any word of Haiti's successful rebellion to prevent slave revolts from reaching its shores. Despite the Haitian Revolution taking place shortly after the American and French revolutions, it's frequently left out of history. Haitian American artist Edouard DuvalCarrié is working to change that. "It's good to remind people how it was, especially here in the United States. The history of slavery—it gets lost. It seems like it's a moment that has been solved and passed away and that we should not delve into it. And then we realize like, right now, September 23, 2021
today, that it's, right back on the table. The conditions of Black people in this country— it's still not solved because there's a very deep ingrained racism here." For the past 20 years that Duval-Carrié has lived in Miami, he has made a conscious effort to spotlight Haitian and Caribbean culture and arts. Now, his newest exhibit, "Kingdom of This World, Reimagined," is bringing a piece of the Caribbean to the Pensacola Museum of Art. "Kingdom of This World, Reimagined" is in celebration of Alejo Carpentier's 1949 historical novel, "The Kingdom of This World," and its 70th anniversary. Carpentier's novel captures the rise of the Haitian Revolution and the aftermath. It was published at the cusp of the Cuban Revolution. Carpentier is most notably known for pioneering lo real maravilloso—or the "marvelous real."
"I've always been fascinated by ["The Kingdom of This World"] because it is truly the essence of what they consider magical realism in the sense that you tell a story about very serious and very clear and real facts," Duval-Carrié said. "But they are so outrageous and so fantastic that you think at the beginning of this, 'Is this guy inventing all these things, or is this the work of imagination?' but it is not. It's as factual as it could be." Duval-Carrié moved from Haiti to Puerto Rico at 9 years old during the François Duvalier regime. He and his family returned when he was a teenager. "The Kingdom of This World" was one of the ways Duval-Carrié reconnected to his Haitian culture. "The book has influenced me and I think a lot of artists in the Caribbean in general," DuvalCarrié said. "I just loved what he did. I really wanted to illustrate that book all my life. And I always said, 'I'm not going to die without doing that.' So I did it." The exhibition's curator, Dr. Lesley Wolff, became fascinated by Caribbean art when she started graduate school at Florida State University. Initially, she was drawn to Mexican art since her father is from Mexico. "I met all of these artists in Miami who have these really strong ties to the Caribbean culturally and aesthetically," Dr. Wolff said. "For me, it kind of opened up a lot of these questions about diaspora, identity and fluidity. So I started broadening out beyond Mexican art and thinking about the Caribbean. When you start looking at the Caribbean, it's like this rabbit hole that you fall into. There's so many different languages, backgrounds, stories, events and tragedies and wonderful moments. It's this really different kind of approach to thinking about art and identity and their intersection than it is in Mexican art history." During her time in Florida, Dr. Wolff connected with Duval-Carrié, and the two collaborated on their first exhibition—"Decolonizing Refinement: Contemporary Pursuits in the Art of Edouard Duval-Carrie." The exhibit took
four years to curate and focused on the Caribbean's ties to North Florida. The two wanted the "Kingdom of This World, Reimagined" exhibit to hone in on the deep Caribbean roots in Florida, or "North of the Caribbean," as Duval-Carrié says. The exhibit first launched in 2019 at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, where Duval-Carrié's studio is, in Miami. "You really feel the presence of the Caribbean in Florida in a way that I think the rest of the U.S. doesn't see, except for maybe New York," Dr. Wolff said. "We do have a number of artists who are from New York, like Roberto Juarez and Scherezade Garcia, and there's a reason for that because there is a certain kind of way in which Florida and New York are dialoguing with the Caribbean in a way that is really pronounced." Although the pandemic prevented the exhibit from traveling as much as planned, Dr. Wolff and Duval-Carrié are glad the exhibit's newest location is in Pensacola. "I think it's really exciting to bring all of these ideas further north," Dr. Wolff said. "North Florida has a different kind of community that is no less attached to the Caribbean but perhaps doesn't see itself in that way always. I love amplifying that. But it's really not a difficult leap. If you just look at the downtown area that surrounds the Pensacola Museum of Art, you can see French colonialism at play, so there's a lot of ways in which we can talk about those historical ties." The pandemic gave them an opportunity to expand the exhibit. They added more artists, growing the number to 10 artists. Some additional pieces from the artists featured in the initial exhibit have been added, too. Since first hosting the exhibit, Dr. Wolff has relocated to West Texas where she is an art history professor at Texas Tech University. Leaving Florida gave her a fresh perspective on the exhibit. "It's made me think really differently, or at least more in an expanded sense, about Caribbean history, heritage and art and the ways in which it very much impacts what's going on out here, but it's much less visible," Dr. Wolff said. "So I wanted to bring in a Texasbased artist into this exhibition also to kind of demonstrate the relationships that Texas has to the Caribbean." The Texas artist she added to the mix of artists is Chesley Antoinette. Antoinette is installing a massive soft, fabric sculpture of a tignon, which will feature embroidered pieces that have to do with the French constitution 13
"Haitian Boy (Ti Noël as Ti jou d’lan)" by Maggie Steber
and ideas about liberty. Tignons have a major cultural and historical connection to the Caribbean because African and Creole women were forced by law to cover their hair with fabric to prevent them from continuing the tradition of adorning their hair with jewels or elaborately styling their hair. However, these women repurposed the tignons into another form of creative self-expression. The artists featured in the exhibit each have their own unique ties to the Caribbean. Some artists are from Cuba and the Dominican Republic and have had their work featured all over the world. Although the Haitian Revolution is a major component in the exhibit, Dr. Wolff explained that the artists will be applying the marvelous real and the sentiment of the historical novel to a much larger picture. "Marvelous real is an important tool used by writers and artists to open the window to see other ways of knowing and viewing in the world that we just haven't accounted for," Dr. Wolff continued. "It's this tension between resistance and liberation and revolution and oppression and thinking through the ways in which one can access a sense of autonomy offered under those conditions. So it's not exclusive to Haiti. But the story draws attention to the ways in which culturally in the West we really haven't paid enough attention to our cultural shared heritage, as it emerged from Haiti." The exhibit will be on view from Sept. 24, 2021-Jan. 9, 2022. There will also be two special programming events in conjunction with the exhibit. The day of the exhibit opening, Friday, Sept. 24, Dr. Wolff and Duval-Carrié will speak about the exhibition. On Friday, Oct. 8, there will be a virtual panel discussion with scholars about the exhibit's connection to social justice issues in and outside of the Caribbean. "I think this exhibit can show what our baggage is," Duval-Carrié said. "Whether you are Black or white, Spanish or English, we can 414 1
look at the complexities of our history and be a little bit more sympathetic and try to find out more and not just reject history so we don't do the same stupid mistakes over and over again. If we can do that with an exhibit, I think we've done a lot." {in}
KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD, REIMAGINED
WHAT: An exhibit featuring work inspired by Alejo Carpentier's historical novel "The Kingdom of This World" WHEN: On view Friday, Sept. 24, 2021-Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022 WHERE: Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S Jefferson St. DETAILS: pensacolamuseum.org
—EXHIBIT PROGRAMING— ARTIST TALK
WHAT: A conversation with exhibit curator Lesley A. Wolff, Ph.D., and HaitianAmerican artist Edouard Duval-Carrié WHEN: 6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 24. WHERE: Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S Jefferson St. DETAILS: This event is free, but registration is required. You can reserve a spot at pensacolamuseum.org.
REVOLUTIONARY RIPPLES: CARIBBEAN HISTORY, CONTEMPORARY ART
WHAT: A virtual interdisciplinary panel featuring experts on Caribbean visual art, literature and history WHEN: 2-3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 8 DETAILS: This virtual event is free and open to the public. You can reserve a spot at pensacolamuseum.org. inweekly.net
a&e happenings NONPROFITS + FUNDRAISERS PENSACOLA HABITAT GALA TO CELEBRATE 40TH ANNIVERSARY
Pensacola Habitat for Humanity will be hosting its first gala, "Framing 40 Years," to celebrate its 40th anniversary on Thursday, Sept. 23, from 5:30-9 p.m. at the Court of De Luna in Pensacola. This event is open to the public, and all Pensacola Habitat for Humanity supporters, home buyers, homeowners and volunteers are encouraged to attend. Guests will receive an exclusive look at the past, present and future of Pensacola Habitat for Humanity and how community support for affordable homeownership has helped transform Escambia and Santa Rosa counties throughout the years. The event will start with a cocktail hour at 5:30 p.m. followed by a three-course meal. Tickets are $70. For more information, visit pensacolahabitat.org/40years.
FIFTH ANNUAL DANETOBERFEST ADOPTION AND FUNDRAISING EVENT Northwest Florida Great Dane Res-
cue's (NWFLGDR) lovable, gentle giants are back to take over Seville Square in downtown Pensacola on Saturday, Oct. 2, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Fifth Annual Danetoberfest celebration and fundraising event. This year's event will feature almost two dozen vendors selling all kinds of arts and crafts—everything from drawings and paintings to customized collars and dog beds to baked goodies for people and pets to colorful candles and soaps. Food vendors will also be on site. NWFLGDR will be raffling off several major prizes for $5 a ticket or six tickets for $20. Prizes include a two-night stay at the Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach Gulf Front Hotel, a three-night stay in Perdido Bay, a handcrafted dog frame and giant breed dog bed as well as more than 100 items.
LOCAL ORGANIZATION RALLIES SUPPORT FOR HAITI Following the
7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti last week, local organization Diligent Act of Love for Haiti is spearheading a relief drive for families impacted by the recent disasters in this country. Organization Chair-
woman Jessie Elusma is collecting food, toiletries and other items like flashlights, first aid kits and unused tarps to send to Haiti. Donations can be dropped off at WRNE Radio, located at 312 E. Nine Mile Road in Pensacola. Monetary donations can also be made at dalove.org.
"FRIEND OF FOO" APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN The Foo Foo Festival Com-
mittee is now accepting applications from nonprofit and for-profit entities who are interested in playing a part in this year's events as a "Friend of Foo." Nonprofits in the Pensacola area who recently applied and did not receive a grant for this year's festival but would still like to participate, or local for-profit businesses such as hoteliers, restaurants and bars who are interested in participating and benefitting, are encouraged to apply. To review the application process, visit foofoofest.com. "Friend of Foo'' participants will receive local, regional and national visibility during the 12-day event via the festival's regional marketing campaign. When applying, entrants should be prepared to provide the name and title of their prospective event; the date, time and location for the event; its respective category; and details and imagery to support the concept. The deadline to submit to be a "Friend of Foo" is Friday, Oct. 1, by noon. The Pensacola Foo Foo Festival will take place Nov. 4-15, 2021.
ARTS & CULTURE
"WHAT DID WE MISS? IS THE INTERNET CONSCIOUS?" ART SHOW A new
art show from Kind Witch Media explores where digital meets analog and propaganda meets history. The show will be open for viewing by appointment only through Oct. 11. For more information or to make an appointment, visit instagram.com/kindwitchmedia.
CLUE: ON STAGE Experience the stage show based on the 1985 movie inspired by the popular Hasbro board game. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27. A Thursday performance at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 23 will be half price.
Masks are required. Cost is $8-$31. Visit pensacolalittletheatre.com for tickets and more information.
WHAT'S SHOWING AT PENSACOLA CINEMA ART The next screening at PCA
is "12 Mighty Orphans" Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1 and 2. All tickets are $8. Reserve your seats by emailing jpncinema@gmail. com or texting (863) 446-7300. PCA is located at 220 W. Garden St. Visit pensacolacinemaart.com for information about streaming movies such as "On Broadway" and the SXSW Short Film Festival.
STRONG STREET STUDIO ONLINE PUMPKIN SALE Glass pumpkin season
is upon us, and you can order yours from the safety and comfort of your own home. Strong Street Studio will be offering a new inventory of glass pumpkins online 10 a.m. Saturdays Oct. 2 and Nov. 13. For more information, visit strongstreetstudioglass.com
WEST FLORIDA PUBLIC LIBRARIES BOOK SALE The Friends of West Florida
Public Library will hold its Big Fall Book Sale Sept. 24-26 at the Pensacola Public Library, 239 N. Spring St. Friday, Sept. 24, is the Friends' Advance Sale. From 3-7 p.m., Friends of WFPL members get exclusive early access to the Book Sale. Non-members can pay $5 admission to take part. Memberships can be purchased at the door. On Saturday, Sept. 25, the Book Sale will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. with free admission for all shoppers and $1 books. Sunday, Sept. 26, is the final day of the Book Sale, with free admission and $5 Bag Sale from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. For just $5, get as many books as you can fit in a brown paper grocery bag. Bags are provided. Carts will be available to help carry the bags to your vehicle. For more information, visit friendsofwfpl.org.
SEWING WITH STEAM FOR ADULTS
Tryon Library's STEAM librarian will teach a sewing class Wednesdays, Sept. 22 and 29, from 10 a.m.-noon. All skill levels are welcome. Learn something new each week. Tryon Library is located is at 1200 Langley Ave.
THIS IS NOT A PIPE Join a small group of Pensacola Symphony Orchestra musicians for a free performance at Artel Gallery, located at 223 S. Palafox. 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, and experience the music surrounded by visual art. For more information, visit pensacolasymphony.com.
BLACK JACKET SYMPHONY PRESENTS PINK FLOYD'S "THE WALL" Rescheduled
from April, Black Jacket Symphony presents Pink Floyd's "The Wall" with the album played in its entirety with no sonic detail overlooked. The show is 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, at the Pensacola Saenger Theatre, located at 118 S. Palafox. Tickets are $35. For more information, visit pensacolasaenger.com.
THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD, REIMAGINED: ARTIST TALK On Sept.
24 at 6 p.m., the PMA will be hosting an Artist Talk with curator Lesley Wolff, Ph.D., and the Haitian American artist Edouard Duval-Carrié. The event is free, but reservations are required. For more information, visit pensacolamuseum.org.
DIZZY ARTS HIP-HOP SHOWCASE Easy Going Gallery is hosting a hip-hop showcase featuring Jamal STEELE, Mvtha Cvla, KuhLee-Uh on Friday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20, which includes one drink for people 21 and up. Easy Going Gallery is located at 701 N. V St. For more information, visit facebook.com/easygoinggallery. PENSACOLA ARTS MARKET Shop a
variety of handmade wares with Pensacola Arts Market, located outside of Easy Going Gallery at 701 N. V St., from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25. Enjoy art, espresso, vintage goods, baked treats, unique gifts and more. Admission is free.
KATT WILLIAMS Comedian Katt Williams will be performing 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at Pensacola Bay Center, located at 201 E. Gregory St. Tickets are $65.50-$134. For more information, visit pensacolabaycenter.com. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW WITH SHADOWCAST The UWF Department of Theatre presents a viewing
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
127 Palafox Place Suite 100 (850)466-3115 autumnbeckblackledge.com September 23, 2021
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a&e happenings of the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts, 11000 University Parkway, Bldg. 82. The viewing will be accompanied by a shadow performance. For more information, contact CFPA at (850) 857-3285.
FORT MORGAN GHOST INVESTIGATION AND HISTORICAL HAUNTED TOUR Join the members of Second Sight
Paranormal TV for a fully equipped ghost and paranormal Investigation at Fort Morgan, one of Alabama's most haunted places. Fort Morgan State Historic Site will provide some historical background of the site and conduct a Q&A. Tours are 7 p.m. Saturdays, Sept. 25, Oct. 30 and Nov. 20. Reservations are required. Visit pensacolaghostevents.com or secondsightparanormal.com to reserve your spots.
BROWN BAG OPERA Pensacola Opera's
monthly series is a free mid-day performance featuring Pensacola Opera artists in residence at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 28, at the Opera Center, located at 75 S. Tarragona St. Visit pensacolaopera.com for more information.
HANK LOCKLIN DOCUMENTARY SCREENING AND Q&A WSRE's award-
winning production "Hank Locklin: Country Music's Timeless Tenor" will be shown on the big screen in the station's Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio, located at 1000 College Blvd., on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. Audience Q&A with Hank Adam Locklin and the film's producers will take place after the film. Admission is free.
PENSACOLA OPERA JUKEBOX GALA
Jukebox Gala is Pensacola Opera's signature fall fundraising event. Over a gourmet four-course dinner, world-class opera singers serenade you and your guests tableside. Event is Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Hilton Pensacola Beach, located at 12 Via de Luna Drive. Tickets are $150. To purchase tickets, visit pensacolaopera.com.
PENSACOLA CIVIC BAND The Pensacola Civic Band will perform 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Saenger Theatre, located
at 118 S. Palafox. Tickets are $13 per person. Visit pensacolasaenger.com for tickets.
YIKES! OPEN MIC BIRTHDAY BASH WITH HILLIARY BEGLEY Listen to
comedians at Odd Colony, located at 260 N. Palafox, 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, with Hilliary Begley. Visit facebook.com/oddcolony for more information.
"PUNKHOUSE IN THE DEEP SOUTH" BOOK TOUR Co-authors Aaron Comet-
bus and Scott Satterwhite offer a glimpse into the 309 house's origins and the punks that made the house a home, all the while creating everything from music to art and even a few businesses, with their book "A Punkhouse in the Deep South." A book release event will be at the house, located at 309 N. Sixth Ave., 6 p.m., Oct. 5. Admission is free but space is limited. Organizers request all attendees wear a mask. For more information on the book, visit upf.com.
ROB SCHNEIDER: I HAVE ISSUES TOUR Comedian Rob Schneider will be
performing at the Saenger Theatre, located at 118 S. Palafox, 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7. Tickets are $35-$100. Visit pensacolasaenger.com for more information.
15TH ANNUAL GLASS AND CERAMIC PUMPKIN PATCH First City Art Center's
15th Annual Pumpkin Patch will be 2-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, at the Blue Wahoos Stadium, located at 351 W. Cedar St. FCAC members get early access at 11 a.m. for $30. "First Pick" tickets are available for $40 with early access at noon. Manna Food Pantries will take non-perishable donations. For more information, visit firstcityart.org.
PENSACOLA INTERSTATE FAIR ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE Re-
turning for its 87th season Thursday, Oct. 21-Sunday, Oct. 31, Pensacola's biggest and longest-running annual agricultural and entertainment tradition returns, bringing with it the excitement of attractions and screams from exhilarating rides, exhibits, fair food, fun and shows for the whole family. This year's Pensacola Interstate Fair entertainment lineup includes:
•Thursday, Oct. 21: "Cat Country 98.7 BIG Lip Sync Battle Finals" •Friday, Oct. 22: Eliminator KC (ZZ Top cover band) •Saturday, Oct. 23: White Tie Rock Ensemble tribute to The Eagles. •Monday, Oct. 25: Jordan Chase •Thursday, Oct. 28: Night Fever (Bee Gees cover band) •Friday, Oct. 29: Resurrection (Journey cover band) •Saturday, Oct. 30: Rodney Atkins
and documents, it is possible to locate where businesses stood in the 1820s. From taverns to parasol shops, each site on the Finding 1821 trail reflects a local establishment that was near that location 200 years ago. Outside each business is a QR code that links to a corresponding advert from an early 1820s newspaper. Over a dozen sites have been identified so far. Take a stroll around town, visit local shops and explore the history of Pensacola through today's technology. Visit historicpensacola. org for more information.
BROADWAY SERIES TICKETS ON SALE NOW Season tickets for Broadway
shows at the Saenger Theatre are on sale now. Shows include "Escape to Margaritaville," "Anastasia," "Hairspray," "Fiddler on the Roof" and "An Officer and a Gentleman." Becoming a Broadway in Pensacola subscriber has benefits, including keeping your same seats year after year, exclusive subscription savings, no waiting in line, free ticket insurance, advance show notice for season additions and supporting the arts in the Pensacola area. Visit pensacolasaenger. com for more information.
UWF HISTORIC TRUST 9/11 EXHIBIT
An exhibit honoring victims lost and others impacted by the tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001, is now on display on the second floor of the Pensacola Museum of History. The University of West Florida Historic Trust curated the exhibit, 9/11 Remembered, which runs through January 2022, with items on loan from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York and the History Museum of Mobile. The gallery includes a section of the I-beam from one of the World Trade Center towers and a helmet and other items worn by first responders who responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Visitors can also view a video of newsreels from 20 years ago on projectors and a video from NAS Pensacola that features military members who responded to the 9/11 attacks. For more information on UWF's Historic Trust, visit historicpensacola.org.
FINDING 1821 Finding 1821 is part of the UWF Historic Trust's Suddenly American exhibit. Using historic newspapers, maps
DRAG SHOWS AT DOLCE AND GELATO Head to Dolce and Gelato, located at 2050 N. 12th Ave., for regular drag shows. The next show is The Ruffle Ball with Bingo starting at 7 p.m. Drag show starts at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24. $10 cover. For more information, visit facebook.com/dolcegelatopensacola.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE: PHOTOGRAPHY X DESIGN Exhibit from award-
winning portraiture, still-life and landscape photographer Robert Malmberg's. On view through Oct. 3. For more information, visit pensacolamuseum.org.
THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD, REIMAGINED The Kingdom of This World,
Reimagined provides a new look at the real and imagined stories told in Alejo Carpentier's 1949 historical novel "The Kingdom of This World," which recounts the Haitian Revolution in his signature literary style—lo real maravilloso, or the marvelous real. This exhibit will be on view at the Pensacola Museum of Art from Sept. 24, 2021Jan. 9, 2022. The PMA is open TuesdaySaturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays from noon-4 p.m. For more information about exhibitions, programming or support, visit pensacolamuseum.org.
"END OF CENTURY" EXHIBIT AT PENSACOLA MUSEUM OF ART End
of Century, an art exhibit featuring Art Nouveau glassware and works on paper, is a new exhibit at the Pensacola Museum of Art. This special exhibit includes items from the museum collection as well as the collection of local art supporter and edu-
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a&e happenings cator Dr. Patrick M. Rowe. On view through Oct.10. Learn more about the exhibition at pensacolamuseum.org.
IN PLACE UWF ART FACULTY EXHIBITION The Art Gallery (TAG) at the
University of West Florida presents In Place, Art Faculty Exhibition. This exhibition features work by Thomas Asmuth & Sara Gevurtz, Dale Castellucci, Yvonne Christine, Nicholas Croghan, John Dougherty, Carrie Fonder, Valerie George, Justin Quaid Grubb, Jim Jipson, Kelly Leitermann, John Markowitz, Marzia Ransom, Gregory B. Saunders and Jenea Wood. The exhibit runs through Nov. 5 at TAG, located on the UWF Pensacola Campus in The Center for Fine and Performing Arts, Bldg. 82.
NEW EXHIBITIONS AT ARTEL GALLERY
Three new exhibitions will be on display at Artel through Oct. 14. In the main gallery is "This Is Not A Pipe" with various artists. Work from artist Frank Myers is in the vault, and in the Alcove is work from John Holden. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is free to the public. Artel Gallery is located at 223 S. Palafox.
NEW EXHIBIT AT BLUE MORNING GALLERY The current Spotlight on Art
is "Serendipity," a collective show featuring potter Tammy Caspersen and photographer Suzanne Tuzzeo. The show promises bold
September 23, 2021
color and unique finds and twists with a fun, carefree feel and is on view at Blue Morning Gallery, located at 21 S. Palafox. Visit bluemorninggallery.com for more information.
PENSACOLA BEACH ART WALK ON THE BOARDWALK Stroll the Pensacola
Beach Boardwalk Sundays through October from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and check out local art vendors, listen to live music and enjoy local restaurants and bars at 400 Quietwater Beach Road.
SCRIPTEASERS WITH PENSACOLA LITTLE THEATRE Scripteasers, Studio
400's and Pensacola Little Theatre's Script Reading Club invites you to monthly script readings at PLT, 400 S. Jefferson St. Want to bring your scripts for the group to read and discuss? Contact Pensacola Little Theatre to get in queue. The group reads prospective scripts for future seasons as well as new scripts that need a table read before the next edit. Not a playwright but love to read out loud? This is your easy, fun theatre night. Fascinated by the play selection process? Sit in for a listen and usually a lot of laughs. Visit facebook.com/pensacolalittletheatre for more information and the latest dates.
SEVILLE HAUNTED TOURS Seville
Quarter's haunted tours offer a different look at Pensacola's history as guides weave tales of ghosts, debauchery, murder, mayhem,
paranormal activities, history and more. Choose your experience from three ongoing tours—Seville Haunted Luncheon and Ghost Tour, 11 a.m. every third Tuesday of the month; Seville Haunted Gallery Night Tours, 7 p.m. every third Friday of the month; Seville Sunday FunDay Haunted Tours, 4 p.m. last Sunday of each month. Tickets are available at pensacolaghostevents.com.
OPEN MIC AT THE GORDON Show off your talents on the second Thursday of every month at The Gordon's Open Mic showcase from 7-10 p.m. Admission is free. The Gordon is located at 306 N. DeVilliers St. Visit thegordon.org for more information. OPEN MIC COMEDY AT BIG TOP BREWERY Try out some new jokes or enjoy
some homegrown talent every Monday at 7 p.m. for Open Mic Comedy at Big Top Brewery, located at 21 W. Romano St. Everyone gets five minutes depending the number of sign-ups. Registration begins at 6:30 p.m.
NEW CLASSES AT MIXON MAGIC PERFORMING ARTS Mixon Magic Per-
forming Arts (MMPA), a boutique performing arts studio located at 1010 N. 12th Ave., Ste. 238, will be offering a limited class schedule this fall. MMPA offers professional dance, fitness and "Mommy and Me" instruction for all ages and skill levels with weekly classes including, but not limited to,
Creative Movement, Ballet/Jazz Combo, Broadway, Tap, Showstoppers, Acting and Voice. Classes will be provided for children as young as 2 years old (with a parent or guardian) through adult. MMPA is dedicated to the safety and well-being of all students and families and has implemented protocols based on guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Masks are required for entry into the building and studio. More information about Mixon Magic Performing Arts can be found at mixonmagic.com, by contacting hello@mixonmagic.com or emily@mixonmagic.com or by calling (850) 221-7438.
GENDER PORTRAITS Gender Portraits is a project from artist Drew Riley of the Austin Creative Alliance. The nonprofit organization supports sex and gender minorities using art as a foundation for education, activism and advocacy. The exhibit is on view at Voices of Pensacola, located at 117 E. Government St., through January 2022. For more information, visit historicpensacola.org.
BLACK CITIZENSHIP IN THE AGE OF JIM CROW "Black Citizenship in the Age
of Jim Crow," a traveling exhibition from the New York Historical Society Museum & Library with additions from the African American Heritage Society of Pensacola, is now on view at Artel Gallery. To learn more about
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a&e happenings it, visit africanamericanheritagesociety.org. Artel Gallery is located at 223 S. Palafox.
CRAFT CLASSES AT STUDIO SOUTH ON NINE MILE Learn a new craft or meet
up with other makers at Studio South. Tuesday is Knit Night 4-7 p.m., and Sit & Stitch is Saturdays 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Both classes are free. For a full calendar of events, visit studiosouthon9mileroad.com. Studio South is located at 955 E. Nine Mile Road.
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS AT FIRST CITY ART First City Art Center offers a wide
range of classes and workshops for artists of all levels. Classes include glass blowing, ceramics, painting and drawing, kiln-forming, stained glass and more. For a complete list of classes and times, visit firstcityart.org.
LIVE MUSIC
BANDS ON THE BEACH Bands on the
Beach is back. The free concert series features shows each Tuesday night, from 7-9 p.m., April-October, at the Gulfside Pavilion at Casino Beach. UPCOMING DATES: •Sept. 28: True Blue Band •Oct. 5: Jessie Ritter
ST. CHRISTOPHER'S CONCERT SERIES Thursday evenings visit St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, located at 3200 N. 12th Ave., for an outdoor concert. Food and
drink concessions are available. Alcoholic beverages are not available for sale. •Sept. 23: Reunion Band •Sept. 30: CrossTown
BANDS ON THE BLACKWATER Free
outdoor concert Friday nights from 7-9 p.m. at Jernigan's Landing, located at 5158 Willing St. in Milton. •Sept. 24: The Flavors •Oct. 1: Jessie Ritter
LITTLE RIVER BAND Little River Band will be performing at the Saenger Theatre, located at 118 S. Palafox, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30. For tickets and information, visit pensacolasaenger.com. LIVE MUSIC AT RED FISH BLUE FISH PENSACOLA BEACH Head to Red Fish
Blue Fish for live performances from local bands Fridays and Saturdays all day. For musician lineups, visit facebook.com/redfishbluefishpensacolabeach.
SAXOPHONIST JIM ANDREWS AT ALICE'S RESTAURANT Saxophonist Jim An-
drews will be performing at Alice's Restaurant, located at 1504 W. Intendencia St., on the first Friday of every month from 6-9:30 p.m.
CURT BOL JAZZ QUARTET Visit Five Sisters Blues Café, located at 421 W. Belmont St., Sundays from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
WIN WEDNE D
and listen to Curt Bol Jazz Quartet. Visit curtbolband.com for more information.
Quarter, located at 130 E. Government St. Show starts at 6:30 p.m. Visit sevillequarter. com for more information.
OPEN JAM AT ARTEL GALLERY Artel
FITNESS + RECREATION
Gallery is open from 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays for open jam with Pensacola Folk Music Society. Feel free to visit and listen to music. Artel Gallery is located at 223 S. Palafox.
CELEBRITY BOXING MATCH: GABBANA VS. PATTY John Gabbana, aka
Boonk Gang, will be stepping in the ring against Supreme Patty at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, at the Pensacola Bay Center, located at 201 E. Gregory St., in a fully sanctioned boxing match. The undercard and fights after the TV portion to this event will be Island Fights 69. Tickets to the live flight are available at pensacolabaycenter.com.
KARAOKE AT MUGS AND JUGS Sing
your heart out Sundays at Mugs & Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway, or just enjoy drinks friends with $4 Smirnoff and $6.50 domestic pitcher drink deals from 7 p.m.-3 a.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/mugsjugs.
LIVE MUSIC AT HUB STACEY'S Sit back
with good food and live music at Hub Stacey's, located at 312 E. Government St. For a full calendar of bands, check hubstaceys.com.
MONDAY NIGHT BLUES AT SEVILLE QUARTER Seville Quarter and the Blues
Society of Northwest Florida bring the "Blues" back to the Seville Quarter Entertainment District, located at 130 E. Government St. every Monday night in End O' the Alley starting at 7 p.m. For more information, visit sevillequarter.com.
TUESDAY NIGHT JAZZ AT SEVILLE QUARTER Enjoy smooth jazz with Me-
lodious Allen and The Funk Heads every Tuesday night at Lili Marlene's in Seville
2021 PENSACOLA SEAFOOD DON MCCLOSKEY 5K The Pensacola Seafood Don McCloskey 5K begins at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at Seville Quarter, located at 130 E. Government St. Register at runsignup.com/ race/fl/pensacola/seafood5k.
CHESS CLUB Learn how to play one of the oldest games in the world. Whether you are a beginner or a master chess player, this is a chance to learn new skills, practice your moves and improve your game in a friendly environment with West Florida Public Library. The library will provide all the chessboards and pieces. Every skill level welcome. DATES: •1-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at Pensacola Library, 239 N. Spring St.
WINE DOWN WEDNE D Enjoy half-off
Join us for 50 cent bottles of wine. wings. Dine in only.
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Every Wednesday
inweekly.net
a&e happenings •1-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at Southwest Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS St. John's
Episcopal Church at 401 Live Oak Ave. invites all pets and their humans for a special blessing of the animals Sunday, Sept. 26, from 5-7 p.m. Arlene's BBQ Food Truck, prizes and free pet bandanas will be available.
29TH ANNUAL SOUL BOWL AT BLUE WAHOOS STADIUM The 29th annual
Soul Bowl will be played at Blue Wahoos Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 2. The full-day youth football festival pits the crosstown rival SYSA Tigers against the East Pensacola-Magee Field Rattlers in five different age-division games starting at 9 a.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 or $10 on the day of. Purchase tickets at bluewahoos.com.
WEEKLY FRIDAY DANCE Get moving every Friday night with a dance sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Enjoy food from 6-7 p.m. Dancing is from 7-10 p.m. A variety of bands and music provide the tunes. Cost of admission is $6. Dances are located at 105 Kenmore Ave. in Pensacola. For more information, call (850) 476-5696. PENSACOLA FERRY SERVICE The
Pensacola Bay Cruises Ferry Service is open with service on Friday, Saturday and Sunday running between Downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach. Ferry trips last approximately 50 minutes, and all-day free parking is available at each of the departure sites. Tickets are $26 roundtrip for adults; $20 roundtrip for military, disabled persons and students; and $15 roundtrip for children 3-15. Children 2 and under ride for free. A local's card may be purchased for additional discounts. The ferry service operation schedule is available on pensacolabaycruise.com.
PENSACOLA PARKRUN The Pen-
sacola Rec Plex North parkrun is 7:30 a.m. Saturdays. The weekly timed 5K run or walk takes place at the University of West Florida and is open to everyone, regardless of fitness level. For more information, visit facebook.com/rpnparkrun or email recplexnorth@parkrun.com.
BREATHE AND READ AT BODACIOUS BOOKSTORE AND CAFÉ Recenter yourself at this monthly event at Bodacious Bookstore and Café, with an instructorled beginner yoga class and a group book discussion at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month. Bodacious Bookstore and Café is located at 110 Intendencia St. For more information, visit bodaciousbookstore.com.
WFPL MOLINO TRACK CHALLENGE Put on your walking shoes and join the walking challenge at the Molino library. Just visit Molino's track, turn on your faSeptember 23, 2021
vorite fitness tracker app to log your progress, dial up your tunes or an audiobook and start walking. When you finish, come into the library and log your progress with staff on our track challenge board. The top walker in this program will win The Coldest Water Bottle. The Molino Branch Library is located at 6450-A Highway 95A. For more information, visit mywfpl.com.
BLUE WAHOOS GAMES It's the 2021
season for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Stadium capacity limits are expected to be implemented to ensure fan safety during the 2021 season and will be announced leading up to the season. For tickets and more information, visit bluewahoos.com.
RELEASE & RENEW AT FITNESS IMPACT TRAINING At 8:15 a.m. on Mon-
days, Wednesdays and Fridays, release into a yin yoga flow centered around low-stress training for high-stress individuals. The focus will be on the basics of breath and openness in the shoulders, hips and spine. For more info, go to mindandmetta.online. Cost is $12 per class, and the location is 375 N. Ninth Ave., Ste. B. Limited space available. Ask about membership pricing.
GULF COAST BREWERY RUN Thurs-
days at 6 p.m., join Pensacola Runners Association for a 5K fun run. Enjoy a free beer after the run and complimentary games such as cornhole, ping pong and more. Gulf Coast Brewery is located at 500 E. Heinberg St. For more information, visit facebook.com/gulfcoastbrewery.
BEER GARDEN YOGA Join Coastal County Brewing Company Saturdays at 9 a.m. for the new Yoga in the Garden Series. Classes will be led by Tara Taylor, a highly experienced instructor from Breathe Pensacola. All skill levels are welcome. Cost is $10 and includes a pint of beer after the class. Coastal County Brewing Company is located at 3041 E. Olive Road. For more information, visit facebook.com/coastalcounty. SOUL FLOW YOGA AT BEAUTIFUL YOU STUDIO Every Tuesday at 7 a.m., flow
and vibe with some soulful music to start the day. This hour-long class will center around engaging the core through smooth yet strong yoga sequences. Cost is $10 per class or $99 for an unlimited 30-day pass. Located at 513 W. Intendencia St. For more info, go to mindandmetta.online.
OCEAN HOUR BEACH CLEAN-UPS
Ocean Hour has picked up its weekly beach clean-ups in the Pensacola area Saturdays at 8:45 a.m. On Saturday, Aug. 28, volunteers will be at Philip A. Payne Bridge. Supplies will be provided, but volunteers are welcome to bring their own. For locations, visit oceanhourfl.com.
for more listings visit inweekly.net 19
a&e
By Gina Castro
DIY Punk Resurfaces in Pop-up Gallery
Pieces from "What did we miss? Is the Internet conscious?" / Courtesy of Kind Witch Media
Punk's hard-edged melodies have coursed through Pensacola for more than 40 years. The city's small-scale music venues and punk houses kept the region's tight-knit punk scene thriving and creating through the decades. The pandemic, unfortunately, ceased live music of all genres for an extended period of time— leading chizuko, a beloved local venue that played host to local and touring punk bands, to close. The shutdowns left longtime punk artists like Joshua Bostic without a creative outlet. "I've been going to at least a show a week, if not putting on my own show, since I was 15," Joshua said. "So it was like having the heart ripped out of the community." Florida's punk scene has been in Joshua's bones since grade school when his music career kicked off in his hometown of Navarre. His father was a drummer who traveled around the South. Naturally, Joshua began playing on his own drum set at a young age. In high school, he'd take his music to the Navarre Park stage. When Joshua moved to the Pensacola area, he became more immersed in the punk scene. He was a showrunner at Sluggo's, a longtime venue that closed its Pensacola lo020 2
cation in 2016, and performed with the band Company of Ghosts. Later, Joshua went solo as Casper with his amp and guitar for eight years. He and his partner Conor Bostic also ran a DIY punk house venue called Ground Zero from their home in the West Garden District for several years. Amidst the silence of the 2020 shutdowns, Joshua returned to one of his most fond memories of punk culture—flyers. "I just always thought of the flyers as promotional material, but when the pandemic happened, I was feeling kind of nostalgic for that process," Joshua said. "I started making fake flyers, maybe once a week. It was something to busy my hands with, and then I just put the 10 or so I had up on the wall one day and thought, 'Well, this looks kind of cool.'" To promote touring bands during his time as a showrunner, he'd piece together magazine clippings and artwork from friends to create eye-catching flyers that represented the bands. But during a time where there weren't any bands to promote, Joshua began making the flyers for fun. Eventually, Joshua fell into a routine. Three times a week, he'd bike to Spring Street, rummage through the library's racks
of old magazines, tote them back home, disassemble the magazines on his living room floor and give them a second life as a flyer. "I definitely am a very ritualized person in certain ways—very committed to routine," Joshua said. "The vast majority of the work comes from that one source, to almost where it probably should be sponsored or hated by the Friends of the [West Florida Public] Library." In the span of nearly two years, Joshua designed 400 flyers for his first-ever exhibition, which is titled "What did we miss? Is the Internet conscious?" The exhibition is presented under his pen name LST and is running from Sept. 11-Oct. 11. Joshua believes that this show is an opportunity to bring the punk scene back together in a new light while also being cautious of the COVID-19 pandemic. "I never would have thought to do this if it wasn't for the pandemic era we're living in, but I thought it was a good opportunity to do something for the punk culture," Joshua said. This venue for the exhibition is reminiscent of house shows—literally. The pop-up gallery is located in Joshua and Conor's home, where many punk bands have performed previously. The hundreds of framed flyers line each wall of the living room—surrounding viewers in his work. Visitors can book same-day appointments to view the gallery with friends. "I would have loved to have had it at chizuko or in a communal, punk space," Joshua said. "But coming from the house show scene, I'm used to the idea of walking into someone's kitchen and seeing a band play. So it was easy to wrap my head around the idea of just doing it at the house." Although the style of Joshua's flyers is inspired by the ones he made to promote bands, the flyers for his exhibit don't represent the identity of any bands. Instead, they are based on his intuition. "That's kind of what got me so addicted to it was sort of the randomness to it," Joshua said. "I tried to use the material in the order I found it. So a lot of the pieces come from what you see in a few days' worth of scavenging for magazines." The tedious process of making each piece isn't an easy feat for most, especially Joshua. His struggles with dexterity issues and depth perception presented additional challenges. "I could barely handle a pair of scissors when I started," Joshua said. "It was a great practice to try to get my eyes and my hands coordinated. I've always struggled with it, so it kind of became this very intentional process." The grueling process was part of Joshua's motivation to put his work on display. "It was very stimulating, kind of exhausting, in a way, so that led to us coming
up with the idea of actually showing it to the public. I did put sweat into this in my own way," Joshua said. Conor's constant support encouraged Joshua to see the potential of his work. "He encouraged me to actually do it," Joshua said. "I have trouble standing on a ladder. I'm very afraid of heights, and he helped me through that by securing the ladder so I could hit the thumbtacks and arrange the pieces on the walls."
"I'm used to the idea of walking into someone's kitchen and seeing a band play. So it was easy to wrap my head around the idea of just doing it at the house." Joshua Bostic The couple's media group, Kind Witch Media (KWM), is presenting "What did we miss? Is the Internet conscious?" as its first art show. KWM came together in 2019 just before the lockdowns and is centered on DIY filmmaking. KWM will be launching one of its first feature films, "If you need directions: maybe don't go," in the summer of 2022. Joshua's glitch films will be playing on TV screens during the exhibit. Glitch films are a collage of digital or analog media into one video. Joshua created several glitch film ads for the exhibit, featuring snippets from Disney movies and commercials as well as Sinead O'Connor's famous Saturday Night Live performance. The glitch film ads are available for purchase on DVD and VHS. Although VHS tapes are relatively outdated, Joshua says it's the best way to view glitch films. "When you take the master tape and run it through your computer to make a DVD copy, you lose so much," Joshua explained. "On VHS, the glitching looks like a natural thing that's occurring on the tape." KWM hopes this exhibit will not only unite the punk community and connect them to like-minded artists but also inspire others to dabble in DIY culture. "The DIY culture has a way of inspiring people," Joshua said. "We hope these private screenings inspire people to show something that they've been working on in the past year and a half, too. I think going forward, post-pandemic, we're going to see a resurgence of the house scene here." {in} KIND WITCH MEDIA Instagram: @kindwitchmedia Website: kwmpensacola.neocities.org To make an appointment to view "What did we miss? Is the Internet conscious?" you can email kindwitchmedia@gmail. com, direct message on Instagram or call (850) 741-2677. inweekly.net
September 23, 2021
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free will astrology WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23 ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Aries author Steve Maraboli says, "The best way to love someone is not to change them, but instead, help them reveal the greatest version of themselves." If that strategy appeals to you, the next eight weeks will be an excellent time to put it to maximum use. You're entering a phase when you can have an especially beneficial effect on people you care for. You'll be at peak power to help them unleash dormant potentials and access untapped resources. TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): It's a good
time to ruminate about things you wish could be part of your life but aren't. You will be wise to develop a more conscious relationship with wistful fantasies about impossible dreams. Here's one reason why this is true—You might realize that some seemingly impossible dreams aren't so impossible. To get in the mood for this fun exercise, meditate on a sample reverie—"I wish I could spend a whole day discovering new music to love. I wish I owned a horse and a boat and a vintage brown and orange striped bohemian cardigan sweater from the 1970s. I wish I knew the names of all the flowers. I wish I felt more at ease about revealing my hidden beauty. I wish I could figure out how to eliminate unnecessary stress from my life."
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Poet, es-
sayist and translator Anne Carson calls her husband Robert Currie the "Randomizer." His role in her life as a creative artist is to make quirky recommendations that help her avoid being too predictable. He sends her off in directions she wouldn't have imagined by herself. Here's an example—At one point in her career, Carson confessed she was bored with her writing. The Randomizer suggested, "Let's put dancers into it." In response, she repurposed the sonnets she had been working on into a live theatrical performance featuring many dancers. I think you would benefit from having a Randomizer in your life during the coming weeks. Know anyone who could serve? If not, look for one. Or be your own Randomizer.
By Rob Brezsny
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): If you so desired, you could travel to Munich, Germany and eat beer-flavored ice cream. Or you could go to Rehoboth, Delaware and get baconflavored ice cream. If you were in Taiwan, you could enjoy pineapple shrimp ice cream, and if you were in London, you could sample haggisflavored ice cream, made from sheep innards. But my advice right now is to stick with old reliables like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream—which are still delicious even if they're not exotic. What's my reasoning? In general, the astrological aspects suggest that during the coming weeks, you're most likely to thrive on trustworthy standbys and experiences you know and trust. LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Celebrated novelist Jane Austen (1775–1817) wrote, "Sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in." People who aren't as articulate as Austen experience that problem even more often than she did. But the good news, Leo, is that in the coming weeks, you'll be extra skillful at expressing your feelings and thoughts—even those that in the past have been difficult to put into words. I invite you to take maximum advantage of this grace period. Communicate with hearty poise and gleeful abandon. VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): "When
you know what's important, it's a lot easier to ignore what's not," writes author and life coach Marie Forleo. Let's make her thought the basis of your work and play in the coming weeks. Get vibrantly clear on what is of supreme value to you, which influences bring out the best in you, and which people make it easy for you to be yourself. Then compose a second list of trivial situations that are of minor interest, influences that make you feel numb, and people who don't fully appreciate you. Next, Virgo, formulate long-term plans to phase out the things in the second list as you increasingly emphasize your involvement in the pleasures named in the first list.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): Happy Birthday sometime soon, Libra! As gifts, I have collected six useful mini-oracles for
you to meditate on during the rest of 2021. They're all authored by Libran aphorist Yahia Lababidi. 1. Hope is more patient than despair and so outlasts it. 2. Miracles are proud creatures; they will not reveal themselves to those who do not believe. 3. A good listener is one who helps us overhear ourselves. 4. One definition of success might be refining our appetites, while deepening our hunger. 5. With enigmatic clarity, life gives us a different answer each time we ask her the same question. 6. Temptation—seeds we are forbidden to water, that are showered with rain.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Pioneer-
ing psychologist Carl Jung wrote, "I must also have a dark side if I am to be whole." But it's important to add that some dark sides tend to be destructive and demoralizing, while other dark sides are fertile and interesting. Most of us have a share of each. My reading of the planetary omens suggests that you Scorpios now have extra power to upgrade your relationship with the fertile and interesting aspects of your dark side. I hope you will take advantage! You have a ripe opportunity to deepen and expand your wholeness.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Sagittarian poet Rainer Maria Rilke was a complicated person with many mysterious emotions and convoluted thoughts. And yet, he once wrote that life occasionally brought him "boundless simplicity and joy." I find it amazing he could ever welcome such a state. Kudos to him! How about you, dear Sagittarius? Are you capable of recognizing when boundless simplicity and joy are hovering in your vicinity, ready for you to seize them? If so, be extra alert in the next two weeks. I expect there'll be a visitation or two. Maybe even three or four. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Baltasar Gracián was not a 21st-century New Age self-help teacher. He was a 17th-century Jesuit philosopher born under the sign of serious, diligent Capricorn. I hope you will be extra receptive to his advice in the coming weeks. He wrote, "Know your key qualities, your outstanding gifts. Cultivate them. Redouble their use." Among the key qualities he gave as examples were disciplined
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discernment and resilient courage. I bring his thoughts to your attention because the coming weeks will be a rousing time to heed his counsel. It's time for you to identify and celebrate and give abundant expression to your key qualities.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): After
studying the genes that create feathers in birds, scientists found that humans have all the necessary genes to grow feathers. (I read about it in National Geographic magazine.) So why don't we grow feathers, then? Well, it's complicated. Basically, the feathermaking genes are not fully activated. Who knows? Maybe someday, there'll be technology that enables us to switch on those genes and sprout plumage. I bet my Aquarian friend Jessie, whose body has 30 tattoos and 17 piercings, would take advantage. In the coming weeks, it might be fun for you to imagine having bird-like qualities. You're entering a high-flying phase—a time for ascension, expansion, soaring and seeing the big picture from lofty vantage points.
PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Are there sensual and erotic acts you've never tried and are curious about? Are there experimental approaches on the frontier of your desires that would be intriguing to consider? Might there be lusty experiences you've barely imagined or don't know about—but that could be fun to play with? According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to explore such possibilities. Be safe and prudent, of course. Don't be irresponsible or careless. But also, be willing to expand your notions of your sexuality. THIS WEEK'S HOMEWORK: It's time for Brag Therapy. Send me your proud and shiny boasts—newsletter.freewillastrology.com.
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freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com Rob Brezsny © Copyright 2021
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news of the weird AWESOME! It was 1928 when Virginia Oliver, age 8, started trapping lobsters, and she hasn't stopped working the harvest yet. Oliver, now 101 years old, is a sternman on her 78-year-old son's boat, which bears her name. In that role, she measures and bands lobsters, but Oliver, of Rockland, Maine, also loads traps with small fish to attract lobsters and gets up before dawn to head out to sea. The Associated Press reported that a couple of years ago, a crab nipped her finger and she had to have seven stitches. When the doctor asked Oliver why she was still lobstering, she snapped back, "Well, that's 'cause I want to do it." Oliver has no plans to retire. "I like being along the water. And so I'm going to keep on doing it just as long as I can." WEIRD SCIENCE Animal behavioral scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, responding to the critical problem of livestock waste, have trained calves to urinate in a MooLoo—a special pen with an AstroTurf surface, the Associated Press reported. Perhaps you didn't know that urine mixed with feces makes ammonia, which is an issue for the environment, or that cows produce an impressive amount of urine in a day: about 8 gallons. About the pottytraining endeavor, the study's senior author, Lindsay Matthews, said, "The cows are at least as good as children, age 2 to 4 years, at least as quick." Researchers lured the cows into the pen with a sweet treat and then rewarded them when they urinated. If, after training, they went outside the MooLoo, they got a squirt of cold water. Next up: No. 2. UNDIGNIFIED DEATH Timothy Satterlee, 71, of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, was attacked on Aug. 30 by a 12-foot-long, 504-pound alligator during flooding following Hurricane Ida, the Daily Beast reported. His wife told police she was able to free him from the gator and pull him onto the front steps of their home, but while she went to get help, Satterlee disappeared. The parish sheriff's office said on Sept. 13 that it had captured the gator with "what appears to be human remains" in its stomach. The coroner's office was confirming that the remains were Satterlee's. "This is a horrible tragedy and my sincere condolences and sympathy goes to the Satterlee family," Sheriff Randy Smith said. OH, CANADA In the small town of Durham in Ontario, Canada, an unidentified driver sealed his fate on Sept. 15 when, at about 1:45 a.m., he began driving a red Cadillac in slow circles around the parking lot of the Durham Regional Police station, CTV News reported. An officer inside the building noticed the car and went outside, asking the driver to stop. "The driver did not comply and continued to drive slowly
By the Editors at Andrews McMeel
in and around the parked police vehicles while flashing his headlights," police said. Finally, two cruisers boxed him in and stopped the car. The driver was arrested for driving while impaired. LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINAL A 17-year-old driver in Youngstown, Ohio, was pulled over by police after he ran a stop sign and drove at high speeds on Sept. 15, WKBN-TV reported. When police spoke to the nervous young man, they smelled what they thought was marijuana, and in the car they found a device that is used to load ammunition into a semiautomatic firearm. They also noticed that his belt was unbuckled. The teenager explained to police that the device belonged to his sister, and regarding his belt, he said, "I ain't gonna lie, I was trying to take a s—t." But police also searched the area where he had been driving and found a 9mm handgun in a yard. Finally, the suspect admitted that the gun was his and, presumably, he had been trying to hide it in his waistband. He was charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. IRONY Philip Morris International, maker of Marlboro and Parliament cigarettes, has sealed a deal with Vectura, a U.K.-based company that makes medicines—including inhalers for respiratory conditions—with a $1.1 billion bid. The BBC reported on Sept. 16 that PMI's CEO, Jacek Olczak, is "excited" to expand the company's product lines, but medical organizations and charities are less than thrilled about the purchase. "It creates perverse incentives for PMI to sell more of its harmful products so they might then profit again through treating smoking-related diseases," said Sarah Woolnough, CEO of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation. The agreement is set to be final on Sept. 30. FINE POINTS OF THE LAW On Sept. 13, a road rage incident in Amarillo, Texas, all started when Car No. 1 tried to pass Car Nos. 2 and 3. No. 1 got past the first car, but No. 3 sped up to prevent the pass. As Car No. 1 passed No. 3, someone in No. 1 fired shots into No. 3. "The victim in this case did have a handgun in their vehicle and returned fire at the suspect," Amarillo police Cpl. Jeb Hilton told KVII-TV. And here's where Texas' tricky law comes in: While it is against Texas law to shoot a firearm from a moving or stationary vehicle on a roadway, if you're shooting in self-defense, you're off the hook. The person in Car No. 3 will not face any charges. There were no injuries reported in the incident. {in}
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