News

A committee of the UWF Board of Trustees on Wednesday received a report on the audit of the Complete Florida program.

Complete Florida is a statewide virtual learning program aimed at helping with distance learning and older students returning to school. Gov. Ron DeSantis last month vetoed its $29.4 million budget, as part of a more than $1 billion cut to education. He blames a loss of revenues to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Republican voters in Florida House District 2 will choose between the incumbent representative and a two-time congressional candidate in the primary election on August 18.  Today we look at the incumbent, Alex Andrade.

Since being elected to represent Florida’s second district two years ago, Alex Andrade says he is often asked what surprised him about the job. “If I didn’t know what the job entailed. I wouldn’t have run in the first place. So there weren’t too many surprises as far as the job itself.”

Following guidance from federal, state and local health experts, Gulf Islands National Seashore is increasing recreational access at the Fort Pickens Campground next week.

The park is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida Department of Health and others to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic, along with using a phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis. 

For the first time in 12 years, voters heading to the polls in the Santa Rosa County will be choosing a new Superintendent of Schools.

In this Gulf Stories Moment, Dr. Athena du Pre, Distinguished University Professor from the Communications Department at UWF, tells about effective ways to communicate with your health care provider.

Early Voting in the August 18 Primary Election in Santa Rosa County begins Monday, almost a week ahead of neighboring counties, which start Saturday.

With the earlier start, Santa Rosa voters will be the first to head to the polls and the county will be the first to roll out additional measures to ensure voter safety, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Researchers locally and around the country have begun what will likely be years of studies on the spread of the coronavirus. “We have two projects currently going on which will probably take another three years to complete,” said Dr. Ashok Srinivasan, the William Nystul Eminent Scholar Chair and Professor of Computer Science at the University of West Florida.

With continued spikes in COVID-19 around the country and the challenges other sports are encountering as they return to play, the Southern Professional Hockey League is delaying the start of its 2020-2021 season. 

Normally dropping the puck in late October, the SPHL is pushing the start of its 56-game schedule to mid-to-late December.

“It was a tough decision that we had to make as the Board of Governors with the league,” said Ice Flyers owner Greg Harris. “There (are) so many unknowns, so it was a tough decision, but the right decision to make at this time.”

The race for Florida House of Representatives District 1 features both Democratic and Republican primaries. On the GOP side, political newcomer Michelle Salzman is mounting a challenge against one-term incumbent Mike Hill. Today, WUWF checks in on the Salzman campaign. 

“It’s been going fantastic. It’s just been very humbling,” says Salzman, describing her first run for political office and the boost she’s gotten from talking to many local people who share her views and concerns. 

The city of Pensacola is getting a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, for the city's Resilient Coastlines Program.

The $75,000 grant is expected to fund what the city calls “an aggressive and overarching climate planning objective” to address underlying climate change threats. It will pay for a vulnerability assessment of the program approved by a task force studying climate change.