News

Thirteen months after the start of operations, ST Engineering in Pensacola is gearing up for more growth. Project Titan is getting a boost from Uncle Sam through an Economic Development Grant.

“I have an announcement to make today,” said John Fleming, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development.

A review of school grades issued by the Florida Department of Education for 2018-19 shows increases in student achievement across northwest Florida.

Big changes are coming for people who travel between Pensacola and Gulf Breeze in the next few weeks. The first span of the new Pensacola Bay Bridge will be opening to traffic before the end of the month.

On Sunday, July 28, the first shift will take place. That evening eastbound traffic, from Pensacola to Gulf Breeze, will be shifted to the new bridge. Later that week, on Thursday, August 1, westbound traffic from Gulf Breeze to Pensacola will start flowing on the new span. 

Nearly 250,000 Florida residents actively use medical marijuana to treat their symptoms. As the number of users grow, so does the need to inform the public about current cannibas laws and what has changed in recent years. Florida A&M University gathered local experts to share the dos and don’ts of cannibas at the Brownsville community center in early July.

A popular administrator at the University of West Florida is adding a new title to her business card.  Dr. Kim LeDuff is now the Vice President of Academic Engagement and Student Affairs at the University of West Florida.

The Department of Academic Engagement at UWF was founded about two  years ago and Dr. LeDuff was its founding vice president.

A new organization — PFLAG Niceville — made up of a cross-section of people is offering support to the area’s LGBTQ communities in Okaloosa and Walton Counties.

PFLAG’s inaugural meeting was held on Sunday, drawing more than 30 people from the two-county area.

“As I was sitting in that meeting and listening to people share their stories, I just felt such a power and such a love in that room; almost like this was really needful,” said David Simmons, a professor of Humanities and Film Studies at Northwest Florida State College, and PFLAG President.

In this week’s Gulf Stories Moment, Dr. Amy Mitchell-Cook, associate professor and chair of the Department of History at the University of West Florida, discusses how shifting coastlines are affecting archaeological sites.

University of West Florida professor Brian Elzweig didn’t set out to study tattoos.

Elzweig, assistant professor in the UWF Department of Accounting and Finance, had previously written about how prospective employees’ social media profiles affected companies’ hiring policies.

His interest in body modification and the workplace began because his much younger brother-in-law, who knew of Elzweig’s work on social media and hiring, asked him about getting an eyebrow piercing.

Available facilities for business startups and/or growth in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties are getting easier to find, thanks to a new Internet database.

First Place Partners has developed the database, offering information on sites and buildings in the two-county area. Director John Hutchinson says the organization currently has about 40 members in EscaRosa.

Blue Angels Weekend visitors won’t have to worry about the $1 toll as entrance to Pensacola Beach will be free. Following public safety concerns because of backups on the bridge, Escambia County has worked to find quicker ways to move traffic. County Commissioner Robert Bender represents Santa Rosa Island and has been trouble shooting the problem.

It looks like the new Pensacola Bay Bridge will be named in honor of General Daniel ‘Chappie’ James, Jr.  

That was the recommendation this week from a bridge naming committee, and legislation to that effect already has been filed.

“The public, in my view, has spoken,” said committee chairman Timothy Burr, hinting at his recommendation as he opened their fourth and final meeting Tuesday evening.

Meet Tropical Storm Barry. The low pressure system meandering off the Gulf Coast is strengthening, and could become Hurricane Barry by this weekend. This is prompting calls to go out for residents to be ready.

Barry, at last check, is about 95 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving west at five miles an hour. For now, it’s a borderline tropical storm with 40 mile an hour sustained winds.

The group seeking to incorporate Navarre is back before the Santa Rosa County Commission this week seeking approval of the petition requirements for a non-binding referendum to appear on next year’s election ballot.

It looks like they may have to do a little bit more than expected to get the panel to sign off.