Bob Barrett

As Major League Baseball begins its playoff season, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos are looking back at the season and are already making changes for 2019.

"I've never seen a team that were as bad as they were to start the year, and then, in a matter of a week, two weeks, kind of flip a switch and turn into one of the better teams I've seen" said Tommy Thrall, the team's lead broadcaster.

A survey of the overall health of people in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties has been released. It’s called the Community Health Needs Assessment, and it’s conducted every three years by the Live Well Partnership for a Healthy Community and a team of local partners. "The purpose of (the study) is to really look at how healthy our community is, what's making us sick, what's causing us to die early," said Nora Bailey, the executive director of the Live Well Partnership.

Families, caregivers, charities and research groups across the United States observe September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The Florida statehouse has one new and one old representative from northwest Florida, and one candidate who is looking to make a comeback.

A federal program that has helped preserve nature and the environment in Florida and across the country is set to expire this fall. It’s called the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and it has been in force for over 50 years. The fund has been used to preserve natural areas, wildlife habitat, even Civil War battlefields from coast to coast.

The race for the open seat in Florida House District 2 will be decided on Primary Day. The seat is open because the incumbent, Frank White, is running for state Attorney General and is not seeking a second term. The race will be decided in the primary because there are no Democrats or Independents running, just two Republicans: Alex Andrade and Greg Merk.

The race for the open seat in Florida House District 2 will be decided on Primary Day. The seat is open because the incumbent, Frank White, is running for state Attorney General and is not seeking a second term. The race will be decided in the primary because there are no Democrats or Independents running, just two Republicans: Alex Andrade and Greg Merk.

A state commission that helps low-income people get access to legal help in civil matters had a meeting in Pensacola, Friday to take a look at the legal needs of veterans.

An opportunity to hear how local candidates feel about sea level rise and climate change is coming to Pensacola. The event is called Tidal Town Hall, and candidates for Pensacola Mayor, Escambia County Commission and the US House of Representatives will be there taking questions. ReThink Energy Florida, a group that was formed in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is putting on the Tidal Town Halls across the state.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will take their “Road To Change” Tour to Pensacola Monday. The students will be at the University of West Florida for the final stop on their month long bus tour of the state.

A Pensacola based researcher has been honored as the year’s outstanding young scientist. Dr. Dawn Kernagis, a research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, was given the Young Scientist Award from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. The award is for scientists age 40 or younger. "That was an incredible honor because I've known a lot of those people for a very long time. They've (helped) usher me through my career and my transition from being a full time diver to being a full time researcher."

Dr. Denise Seabert has taken over as the new dean of the Usha Kundu, MD College of Health at the University of West Florida. "I came to Pensacola from Ball State University (in Indiana). I was there for the last 15 years, coordinating a school health program, and then over the last few years helping to grow a new college of health there."

The results of the Performance Based Funding Metrics for Florida’s 11 state universities have been released, and it’s good news for the University of West Florida. That has not always been the case. The first year the funding metrics were used, UWF only 21 out of 50 possible points, which was the lowest of all universities in the state. This year, the story is very different. "We are at 86 of a possible 100 points! That is the highest amount that the university has reached so far" said UWF President Dr. Martha Saunders.

Max Mateer, a student who will be entering his sophomore year at Pensacola High School in the fall, took home first prize this month at the National History Day Contest finals in College Park, Maryland. It’s the second year in a row that Max has taken first prize in the performance category. He says it was entering the contest in the first place that actually sparked his love of history. "It was part of the gifted class that I was in.

It’s been four months since 17 people were killed and another 17 injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Since then, some students from that school have been traveling around the country asking for stronger gun laws and registering young people to vote.

"We have 400 thousand Brits who live in Florida" says David Prodger, who was appointed the British Consul General to the state in 2014, and is the senior UK official in the Consulate General, which is a subordinate office to the Embassy and is located in Miami. He is traveling the state talking about the special relationship between the UK and the Sunshine State, including here in the panhandle.

Jersey Dees is a second grader at R.C. Lipscomb Elementary school, and one of the winners of the Global Corners annual essay contest. She read her winning entry to an audience of about 100 at the Global Corner’s Explorers Luncheon Tuesday at the Pensacola Yacht Club. The luncheon is a fund raiser and a way to mark the end of the school year.

A new study from The Centers for Disease Control shows more children than ever are being diagnosed with autism. As recently as 2002, the CDC reported the number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder was one in 150. Since then, the number has been growing and in a new report issued in April, the number of children with autism at age 8 has reached one in 59.

A big crowd is expected to put in some miles and raise some money this Saturday during the annual Walk for Epilepsy. The event will support the local chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida. The foundation sponsors fund raising walks all over the state, and the local event will be held this Saturday, May 19 at Community Maritime Park in Pensacola. Cecily Chundrlek, an advancement and development specialist with the local chapter of the foundation says the money raised locally helps fund some medical help for their clients.