Confederate Monument

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson used a very short, weekly virtual news conference to discuss a potpourri of subjects.

In his roughly eight minutes of prepared script, the mayor updated the numbers on COVID-19 in the city and Escambia County – 2,809 positive cases, according to the state Health Department.

“The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is at 116 as of July 5,” said Robinson. “For reference, there were 46 COVID-19 hospitalizations exactly one week ago.”

With incumbent Clay Ingram unable to run for reelection due to term limits, the District 1 seat in the Florida House of Representatives is up for grabs. There are five candidates vying for the office.

Mike Hill, one of three Republicans in the race, is seeking to return to the state legislature.

An Air Force veteran and local businessman, Hill served three years in the Florida House.

He won a special election in 2013 following the death of then Dist. 2 Rep. Clay Ford.  In 2016, he lost a contentious race for the state senate.

Debate is underway at Pensacola City Hall, over the proposed removal of a Confederate monument from its current location. If it is removed, a local cemetery is ready to accept it.

St. John’s Cemetery on G Street could become the new home for the “Our Confederate Dead” monument, which was erected in 1891 at Robert E. Lee Square.

After the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over removal of a Confederate monument, efforts to remove a Confederate memorial in downtown Pensacola are gaining steam.

Pensacola’s Confederate monument is located at Lee Square on Palafox Street, downtown. It was dedicated back in 1891, more than a quarter-century (26 years) after the Civil War.