Bob Barrett

As Joe Biden’s presidency approaches the 100 day mark, The University of West Florida Department of Government is getting ready to give it a review. “We’re having a roundtable discussion that’s taking stock of the first 100 days of the Biden administration. Things that have changed, things that have stayed the same and what we think the implications are.”

Adam Cayton is an associate professor of government in The Reubin O'D Askew Department of Government at UWF. He’ll be one member of the panel examining how Joe Biden is progressing in the early part of his administration.

Do you know what a social worker does for a living? March is National Social Work Month, so WUWF’s Bob Barrett got together with three social workers and got some answers.

Sandra Crawford, Amanda Helm and Shannon Massingale are all licensed certified social workers at The Lakeview Center in Pensacola. We recently got together for a conversation over Zoom to talk about social workers, what they do, how they feel about their jobs and their clients and what it takes to thrive in their careers. Here is a sample of that conversation.

The University of West Florida is offering veterans an opportunity to train for a career in cybersecurity.

"We are honored to partner with the Regions foundation to make this program available at no cost to eligible veterans,” said Dr. Eman El-Sheikh, associate vice president with the UWF Center for Cybersecurity.

The program is called UWF CyberSuccess. It provides professional training, career development and industry certification to launch or advance a career in cybersecurity.

When the 13 colonies rose up against Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, Florida wasn't in that group. In fact, at the time, Florida wasn’t even a single colony. Here's a look at the history of West Florida, the forgotten 14th colony.

For the past few months the biggest issue with the coronavirus vaccine has been getting an appointment to get the shots. And the recent winter weather around the country didn’t help. But according to Dr. Rudy Seelmann, the corporate director of pharmacy for Baptist Health Care, the pressure on the supply chain is beginning to ease bit.

A third-grade teacher at Montclair Elementary School has been named Escambia County’s Teacher of the Year.

“I’ve always just naturally wanted to teach,” said Briana McCreary, and she has been doing just that, teaching, for as long as she can remember. “Whether it was teaching my teddy bears, my baby dolls, upgraded to my younger cousins, I teach dance through praise dances with my church, any opportunity. Vacation bible school, I was always trying to lead and teach somebody something.”

Teachers around the country are trying to find their place in line for the coronavirus vaccine. And while that spot is reserved in some places, close to home they are being shut out. 

“Educators want nothing more than to be back, in person with their students,” said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the largest teacher’s union in the country.

Pringle says the union has been asking for strong guidance from the federal government.

Much like just about everything else in life, the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way students are applying for and getting into college.

“Testing, college admission, financial aid, so many of those things are simply changing due to the effects of COVID,” said Rob Franek, editor in chief at the Princeton Review.

One of the big changes is many schools are going to a test-optional process when evaluating students for admission. However Franek says test-optional does not mean test-prohibited.

State lawmakers are preparing for the 2021 Florida legislative session. District 2 Representative Alex Andrade shared his thoughts on this year’s priorities and challenges.

“The elephant in the room obviously is the budget crunch we’ll be facing this year," he said. We’ll be looking at between a $2 and $4 billion loss to revenue that the Florida legislature is going to have to figure out how to balance." 

After a couple of weeks of looking at schedules and venue availability, new dates were announced Monday morning for Pensacon 2021.

A trial date has been set for a lawsuit that affects thousands of veterans and current military members.

"There are now more than 220,000 service members who have filed suit,” said Bryan Aylstock, an attorney at the Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis and Overholtz law firm in Pensacola. The suit has been filed against the company 3M over defective ear protection the company made for the military that led to hearing loss for the people who used them.

The suit will be heard in Pensacola by Judge Casey Rodgers, Chief U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Florida.

A newly curated exhibit chronicling African-American history has opened in downtown Pensacola. “It’s an exhibit that was originally curated by the New York Historical Society and Museum,” said Dr. Cheryl Howard, the President, CEO and co-founder of the African American Heritage Society of Pensacola.

Thanksgiving is going to look a lot different this year, with travel alerts and calls for fewer people at the dinner table. It also means that people who serve the homeless population in the region must also adapt to life with COVID.

A new study released from the University of Florida says female teaching assistants are given worse reviews by stude