Inweekly feb 4 2016 by Inweekly

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contributing writers Jason Leger, Jennifer Leigh, Emily Richey, Chuck Shepherd, Shelby Smithey

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Independent News is published by Inweekly Media, Inc., P.O. Box 12082, Pensacola, FL 32591. (850)438-8115. All materials published in Independent News are copyrighted. ÂŠ 2015 Inweekly Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Valentine’s Day Lunch, brunch, and dinner specials Friday, Saturday, and Sunday We will offer a Valentine’s Day lunch feature Friday, February 12, and Saturday, February 13. On Sunday, February 14, we will offer a special brunch feature. Also, Chef Billy Ballou and Chef de Cuisine Jason Hughes have prepared a number of special features for dinner that will be available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In addition to the features, we will also be serving from our lunch, brunch, and dinner menus. For details, visit fishhousepensacola.com.

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February 4, 2016

winners & losers

Sarah Palin

winners

losers

FRANK BROWN INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL The music

SARAH PALIN Former Alaska governor blew

LEAN IN PENSACOLA The Lean In

FLORIDA PRISON SYSTEM Disability Rights Florida filed a federal lawsuit accusing Florida prison officials of discriminating against prisoners who are deaf, blind or confined to wheelchairs, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit alleges the Department of Corrections failed to provide inmates with disabilities with hearing aids, prosthetic devices, and other assistance. It accuses officials of discriminating against disabled inmates by refusing to allow them to participate in services and programs available to other prisoners.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY 4-H CENTER The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) presented its first 2016 Triple E Award—for Energy Efficiency Effort—to Escambia County’s Langley Bell 4-H Center for applying best energy practices in their new building. The PSC encourages cost-effective conservation and renewable energy to reduce the use of fossil fuels and defer the need for new generating capacity. Covering the state’s fi ve major geographic areas, each month the PSC gives its Triple E Award to a local business that has accomplished superior energy efficiency.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT Last week, a formal hearing of-

festival and its Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame show raised $18,867 for the Larry Butler Memorial Music Award at the University of West Florida. The award was founded in June 2015 with donations from Butler’s family and friends. It will be used to support UWF music students in academic competitions and performance-related travel.

Pensacola Chapter recently held its inaugural event at New World Landing and 400 women attended. These women were inspired by keynote speaker Bentina Terry. Attendees were challenged to empower other women in the community, form small Lean In Circles, and provide peer support to achieve their goals. Jennifer McFarren, Whitney Fike, Meghan McCarthy, Hong Tran and Rachael Gillette all leaned in to start this movement and empower other women.

up after "Today" hosts asked about statements she made about her son's arrest for domestic violence and post-traumatic stress disorder. During her speech endorsing Donald Trump, Palin said then that her son had come back after serving in a war zone “hardened." The Today hosts asked her to explain her speech and why she believed her son’s problems came from President Obama.

ficer overturned a decision by the district to disciplinary reassign a West Florida High football player for alleged misconduct on a school bus. Junior varsity players had been pulling down the pants of their teammates. Three were singled out for discipline. The coach driving the bus wasn’t reprimanded for failure to properly chaperone the children. The player, who won the hearing, had to take classes online for four months awaiting the decision.

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outtakes

by Rick Outzen

INFRASTRUCTURE: THE BEST INCENTIVE Downtown Pensacola has had a renaissance since the Community Maritime Park was completed. The private sector has invested in Palafox Street, and another $100-millions worth of projects is being considered. The key to their completion will be infrastructure—particularly stormwater management and parking. The Corrine Jones pond project will make a difference, but the city still needs a solution for the Long Hollow Stormwater Pond that flooded the surrounding neighborhoods in 2012 and most of downtown Pensacola in 2014. Parking may not be an issue today, but it will be very soon. Develpment is gradually being replacing downtown’s parking prairies. The new downtown hotel, Bear Levin Studer YMCA, Daily Convo apartment complex and the Vince Whibbs, Sr. Community Maritime Park need structured parking. I’ve talked with several urban planners about downtown Pensacola. Most said that the retail and commercial development usually follow an influx of residential developments. Warehouses are converted into affordable loft apartments. Old houses are renovated. Retailers see an opportunity and open locations nearby. Banks, attorneys, stockbrokers soon open offices, too. Downtown Pensacola has done it backward. The retail shops, restaurants, bars and other commercial spaces have led the wave of redevelopment since 2011, and now they need

more residents living within walking distance to sustain their businesses. Those residents need to be diverse—retirees, empty-nesters, Millennials, business owners, professionals, and office and retail workers. To achieve that diversity, the rents and purchase prices must have a wide range. Luxury condominiums and million-dollar homes are nice, but few can afford them. Studer Properties has a waiting list of over 500 people for its proposed apartment project on Romana and Jefferson streets, so we know there is a demand for downtown housing if the price points are affordable. The hold-up is how to build a parking garage and key the rents in the necessary range. I don’t know if state lawmakers will work out a solution to extend Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemptions (EDATE), but that may only help the Studer project. What about other developers who seek to build housing downtown with a similar range of rental rates? That is the challenge for Mayor Ashton Hayward and the Pensacola City Council. The best solution may not be to develop unique incentive packages for each developer because that will lead to favoritism. Only those who are liked by city hall will get them. No, the solution is to focus on infrastructure—stormwater drainage and parking. If done properly, the playing field will be open for all to develop their projects and for the public to enjoy. {in}rick@inweekly.net

Parking may not be an issue today, but it will be very soon.

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FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN PARKING

By Rick Outzen The City of Pensacola is working on a parking solution for downtown. While some might question the need, several parking lots have or will be taken away in the near future as development continues. The new downtown YMCA is being built on the PNJ parking lot behind Seville Quarter. The University of West Florida’s plans to better connect and promote the city’s historic district will eliminate the parking lots behind the T.T. Wentworth Museum. The expansion of Hixardt Technologies will eliminate a large parking lot on Government Street across from the M.C. Blanchard Judicial Building, and we still aren’t sure how the renovations of the Brent and Blount buildings will impact the parking on Baylen Street.

Fortunately, Mayor Ashton Hayward has taken steps to plan for the future. Last month, the mayor wrote in a viewpoint published in the daily newspaper that finding parking solutions were among his 2016 goals. He wrote, "We will decide whether or not a new parking garage is needed downtown and, if so, where it should be located and how it can be financed." Last week, the mayor called into "Pensacola Speaks" to praise Quint and Rishy Studer for their investments in his city. He also talked about downtown parking, "I told Quint today about Joe Riley, who probably will go down in history as one of the greatest mayors, if not the greatest mayor in the history of South Carolina in Charleston," said the mayor. "We talked to him a few months ago before he got out of office we said, 'Joe, how did you address parking?'"

“We got his team involved and then we're working West Florida Planning right now so we're being proactive, not reactive.” Mayor Hayward

He said, "We got his team involved and then we're working with West Florida Planning right now, so we're being proactive, not reactive." “In early January, Jill Lavender from West Florida Regional Planning Council presented to the Downtown Improvement Board a summary of the City-sponsored study “Parking Strategies as a Catalyst to Economic Development”. That study should be finished by June. The apartment complex proposed for the old News Journal site on Jefferson and Romana streets has hit a snag over parking. Studer Properties CEO Andrew Rothfeder said the now-expired EDATE program or some incentive is needed to help finance the construction of a parking garage for apartment dwellers, YMCA members and other businesses in the area. A parking space in a parking garage costs $14,000 per space. A surface space costs $2,000 per space. Rothfeder said the garage adds another level of cost to the project. In the end, the research said the high-density apartment complex with a parking garage didn’t make financial sense, because the market couldn’t support the rents that are needed. “This is the absolute definition of when an incentive is needed to do a project,” he said. “If tons of people have looked at it and said, ‘I can’t do it without some type of incentive to fill that gap and keep the project affordable,’ it’s just not going to happen without an incentive.” John Peacock, chairman of the Downtown Improvement Board, told Inweekly that he realizes more parking is needed for downtown to continue to grow beyond Palafox Street. ‘The DIB is responsible to manage parking, not develop parking,” he said. “That's really the city's job.” He talked about how other cities handle downtown parking. “If you look at a Greenville, South Carolina, for example, they have nine garages,” said Peacock. The last time I talked to them about a year ago, they had nine garages, all of them full, and there's two more under construction. He added, “The way they do parking downtown, all the on-street parking is free but timed, one hour, two hour, etc. If you want to park longer than that, you go in the garage, and you pay. “ He said the West Florida Regional Council’s study would look at parking from an economic development standpoint. “I think largely because of the hotel coming in downtown, where are we going

to park those people and so many other things,” said Peacock. “We're losing a parking lot on Government Street because of the Hixardt deal. The UWF Historic Trust is taking away parking lots for its projects. He said downtown has several surface lots where parking garages could be built. “Clearly we need some additional parking and could streamline that at little bit,” said the DIB chairman. “There're existing lots that probably can be turned into parking structures, but we can't do that. The city's got to do that.” He added, “Certainly we need to make a decision as a community to which direction we want to go. I'm hopeful in June when a planning council comes back with their recommendation they're going to say this is the direction to go.” Councilman Brian Spencer said he also believes the city needs to plan for the future, and more density in the downtown area is critical. “Here's the fact. The cost of sprawl, it's an unbearable cost,” said Spencer. “For the city, it actually is more expensive for us to service residences that are in our lower density neighborhoods. It's smart thinking to do what we can do to advance the migration of people, particularly residences, into the higher-density housing solutions. “ He said, “I think it's a smart investment for us to look at public funding that can support and, in some way, serve as the funding source, whether it be to a partnership. I don't know what percentage that addresses the structured parking.” The councilman recognized that parking is a barrier to how downtown expands. He called the business owners that have made Palafox Street a destination for locals and visitors “early investors.” “We owe it to them to do what we can to remove some of the barriers to developers who may otherwise invest less risky vertical improvements in other cities and communities,” he said. “We need to do that; we've got to at least make ourselves appear to be on level playing field with some of the other first-and secondtier cities.” Spencer said, “That's one of my goals. I'll be very supportive of any sort of action that we as a governing body can take.” Mayor Hayward is ready to see how to take downtown development to the next level. “We've had so much growth in five years, and so all of us get excited about being on Bayfront Parkway and coming into the downtown core,” said the mayor. “The culture's shifting in a very positive way, but there's so much growth going on downtown.” {in}

“I'll be very supportive of any sort of action that we as a governing body can take.” Brian Spencer

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3-1-1 SERVICE TO THE RESCUE

By Duwayne Escobedo Brian Spencer is one of the biggest proponents of Pensacola’s 3-1-1 service to report non-emergency problems, such as a darkened streetlight, car-jarring potholes or repairs needed at one of the small coastal town’s 93 parks. The two-term city councilman and local architect never hesitates to snap a photograph in the downtown area—which includes some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods— with his mobile phone and upload the issue to the city on Pensacola’s 3-1-1 app. He enjoys getting regular updates on the city’s progress until the problem gets resolved. Spencer encourages his constituents to use the app, too. 3-1-1 problems can be reported through the app, through the city’s website or by calling the city. “I have a 100 percent success record,” Spencer said. “It’s extremely useful. But it’s not being used to its fullest potential. When I show people how to use it the reaction is nothing but enthusiasm and excitement.” The 3-1-1 system was first introduced in Baltimore in 1996 and won the Innova-

tion award from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2003. Nearly 70 municipalities across the United States use the system. Another 20 cities in Canada have launched the 3-1-1 service. Toronto, a city of nearly six million, currently handles the most 3-1-1 requests from its citizens. Pensacola implemented the program in July 2011 during the first year of Mayor Ashton Hayward’s first term in office. While some major cities receive well over 1 million requests for city services in a year, Pensacola Mayor’s two-person Office of Constituent Services handled 4,875 calls in 2015. Of those, 2,810 requests, or 57.6 percent, were for city phone numbers or referrals to other agencies. During that year, only 154 of 1,910 remaining issues went uncompleted. That’s a 92 percent success rate for those entries. Popular issues were potholes (156 calls), streetlights (123) and code enforcement (176). According to Constituent Services Administrator Latasha Buchanan, the main reason a service request isn’t completed is because it involves the city and cooperation with other Escambia County governmental agencies. Buchanan said, “The average time it takes to close jobs varies quite a bit. For

“When I show people how to use it the reaction is nothing but enthusiasm and excitement.” Brian Spencer

February 4, 2016

instance, a request for the phone number for another agency is completed right away. However, a Code compliance request could take more than 30 days to complete due to the notification requirements.” Mayor Hayward is pleased with the service. He said in a press statement, “3-1-1 is a central piece of my effort to foster a ‘citizens first’ culture here at City Hall. It pushes us to be better every day and helps us continue to improve the services we’re providing to our citizens.” Buchanan said she’s excited to spotlight Pensacola’s 3-1-1 service, which she said has been underutilized. The city once had three employees hired to strictly answer requests but realized it’s staff of two could log and answer the current low flow of calls for service. The City has launched an app that lets citizens send requests from their iPhone/ iPad, Android and Blackberry devices. The app can be downloaded from the city’s 3-11 page on its website. A 3-1-1 ticket can be submitted by uploading photos and allowing the device’s GPS location pinpoint the location of the problem. The 3-1-1 platform is powered by PublicStuff, an industry leader that provides services to more than 200 cities across the country. Currently, requests for city services by the app account for about 8 percent of the total submitted. Although the city app is quick and easy to use, it has failed

to catch on, so far. Requests through the city website—Pensacola311.com—make up 7 percent of requests for city services. Meanwhile, phone calls remain the most popular way to contact the city for services, totaling 85 percent of requests. Those who use 3-1-1 can then track progress with updates sent by the city to their e-mail addresses or mobile phones. “I believe residents who use the 3-1-1 service feel empowered to reach out to the city,” said Buchanan, who said she wishes Escambia County would offer the service, too. “They are turning it in themselves and then can follow along with the job every step of the way.” And don’t be surprised if you see Buchanan in person at a reported issue by a Pensacola resident. “People don’t realize the extent of what we do for our residents,” she said. Some cities, such as Akron, Ohio, have watched awareness of their nonemergency services number skyrocket with catchy campaigns. Akron promotes it with the message: “Burning building? Call 9-1-1. Burning Question? Call 3-1-1.” Right now, Spencer remains one of the biggest champions of the city’s nearly fiveyear-old 3-1-1 service. He points out the system offers public records of a job from when it’s first reported to when it’s finally completed. Spencer said, “We do need to increase education and awareness.” {in}

3-1-1 Requests for 2015 Request Types

Submitted

Closed

311 for City telephone number

1983

1982

Monthly Average

311 Other Agency

827

Request of phone numbers

2810

2809

234

Code Enforcement other

176

165

Pothole

156

155

Streetlights

123

122

Street signs/Traffic signals

111

109

Care of Premises complaint

108

Parks grounds/landscaping

105

Flooding/Drainage

104

Public Works other

Parks & Recreation other

Total service-related requests

1162

1080

Total calls

4875

4720

331

General Information other

BRANCH BRANCHES OUT The Escambia

County Destination Marketing Organization (“DMO”) has hired Rusty Branch as its new executive director. He replaces Ron Ellington, who retired from the position in December 2015. In his nearly 14-year tenure with Baptist Hospital’s Lakeview Center, Branch most recently served as the Manager of Training and Director of Community Relations for the vocational service division known as Gulf Coast Enterprises. In this role, he advocated at the federal, state and local level for the advancement of job opportunities for persons with significant disabilities – leading six members of congress to become AbilityOne Congressional Champions for Disability Employment. “What attracted me to the DMO is the fact that tourism is a major segment of our local economy and when it does well, our community and our neighbors do well,”

Branch said. “I have also become aware that many of our local leaders in the tourism industry are active in our community in other vital ways – such as education, non-profit work, developing trade associations and many other aspects that improve overall community health, so the idea of joining such change-makers was very appealing.” On “Pensacola Speaks,” Branch said that Ellington left big shoes to fill. “Ron Ellington has done some heavy lifting in the last few years,” he said. “We've got a great group of commissioners now that sees the importance and really I think, certainly tourism is good for us, but I think it's something that could continue to grow.” He said that he was drawn to the DMO position because he knows firsthand how many jobs are created by the tourism industry. “What I've seen is that folks in our community need jobs, they need an op-

“What attracted me to the DMO is the fact that tourism is a major segment of our local economy.” Rusty Branch

▼

portunity to get started in a job that may be a springboard to another job or a springboard to a career within that profession, but they just need jobs,” said Branch. “Tourism does well and it increases, not only are our sales taxes increasing and our bed taxes increasing, but our neighbors get jobs.” He added, “Our community is better, and so when that registered with me, that the importance of tourism impacting the guy right down the street and the folks that I've been working with for the last years, I thought this is something our community needs to get serious about." Branch has worked for several years to bring about awareness of various issues, developing relationships with a wide range of decision makers and learning the skills necessary to effectively bring about needed change. He

Rusty Branch

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now plans to bring his extensive knowledge and experience to tourism development. “My goals in this new role will initially be three-fold,” Branch stated. “To increase tourism and its benefits in our area; to ensure our neighbors are aware of the major impact tourism has on our community; and to further expose this community to the amazing stories and community involvement of the men and women who are leading tourism in our community.” A graduate of the University of West Florida, Branch has completed Executive Education through the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has participated in Leadership Pensacola and is active as a mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters and Take Stock in Children programs. Additionally, Branch serves as President of the Pensacola Civitan Club, as a board member of CareerSource EscaRosa and as Senior Pastor of Dogwood Park Baptist Church. He was named an Inweekly Rising Star in 2015.

excitement for the new facility and a willingness to donate. She said she approached 96-year-old member Dick Pace, of the Pace family, to donate. She told him he could pay in installments, if he wanted. “I’m 96-years-old. I’m writing you the check now,” Pace told her, she said. The Y was a $639,000 value to the community in 2014. In addition, about 16 percent of its membership receives financial aid from the Y. The Y also teaches more children to swim in the coastal town than any other agency—an important fact given that drowning is the leading cause of death in children under 5-years-old. “We impact so many people beyond the walls that we have here,” Rosenbaum said. The Y is also proud to be part of the ongoing downtown redevelopment spearheaded by Quint Studer, who owns the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. “We will be another asset in the revitalization of downtown,” Rosenbaum said.

Patron's Paver BRICK PROGRAM HONOR THE PAST. INSPIRE THE FUTURE.

“We impact so many people beyond the walls that we have here.” Andrea Rosenbaum

NEW Y OPENING IN OCTOBER The

YMCA of Northwest Florida is so much more than a “swimming gym.” The new 52,000-square foot building, which is double the size of the current gym, is on track to open downtown on the old Pensacola News Journal parking lot behind Seville Quarter in October, Bill Seedes and Andrea Rosenbaum told a group of two dozen American Advertising Federation professionals at its monthly luncheon at the Pensacola Bay Center. Seedes is the executive director for YMCA’s downtown Pensacola branch of Northwest Florida. Rosenbaum is Director of Advancement. The new $16 million Y features: • Room for 12,000 members, which is four times the current membership of about 3,000. • A gymnasium for basketball and large exercise classes. • Two indoor pools, including one with a slide, and another for swimming laps. • Demonstration kitchen with classes on how to cook healthy meals. (The Y is currently analyzing proposals.) • A Health & Wellness Center to help people live healthier lives. • An on-site healthcare partner with Baptist Health Care/Andrews Institute to help rehab the organizations’ patients and offer professional services to Y members. In conjunction with the building of the Bear Levin Studer YMCA, Rosenbaum has spearheaded fundraising efforts. The Y has currently raised more than $13 million, or nearly 82 percent of its goal. Rosenbaum said people have shown February 4, 2016

HUMAN RIGHTS ORDINANCE COMING

Pensacola City Council President Charles Bare was on News Talk 1370 WCOA’s “Pensacola Speaks” last week with Inweekly publisher Rick Outzen. Bare said the Human Rights Ordinance that was referred last November to the council executive and city attorney for review may not be ready for the council until March. In late November, Council Executive Donald Kraher notified the council that he and the city attorney were at a February date for a review/action on the Human Rights Ordinance, which was brought up Councilman Brian Spencer. "The City Attorney will be working on the ordinance and, in order to give it the full attention this piece of legislation deserves, anticipates a February date to be more appropriate and realistic," said Kraher. "I think all would agree that with the importance of this piece of legislation, we want to be fully prepared and have this matter fully vetted." The council president said on the radio program that Kraher and City Attorney Lysia Bowling need more time to work out the details. “We thought February, maybe March now by the time it makes it back to us,” said Bare. “Our city attorney is working on language which will then have to go back to Councilman Spencer, because it was his sponsored ordinance originally.” The council president believes the ordinance may be better handled in a special meeting. “I would see that going to a special meeting, not to a normal agenda meeting just because it's going to take hours,” he said. “We'll probably have a couple hundred speakers maybe from both for and against that ordinance.” {in}

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and all who contributed to supporting the Patron Paver Program.

The Greater Pensacola Chamber Baskerville-Donovan, Inc. Sacred Heart Health System Capt. Howard Rundell (USN, Ret.) Capt. John O’Hara (USN, Ret.) Nash & Jay Patel and Family LCDR Wayne M. Burr, USN & Jamie Gates Collier Merrill The Fred Donovan Family Utility Service Company Kathleen Dough Castro Hector Castro Mike Murdoch AppRiver

Many thanks to everyone who help to support our mission of honoring the past and inspiring the future at Pensacola’s world-class National Naval Aviation Museum. Continue to give by visiting www.NavalAviationFoundation.org or by calling 850.453.2389.

MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Blaise Adams Market President, Centennial Bank

Cindi Bear-Bonner Founder and Owner, Fitness Onboard, LLC

Becca Boles Corporate Communications Director, Gulf Power Company

Patrick Elebash Jeweler, Small Business Owner, Elebash Jewelers

Chad Henderson Co-Founder and CEO, Catalyst CRE - A THG Investments Company

Gail Husbands Retired Escambia County Educator

Stacy Keller Williams Vice President Member Experience & Training, Navy Federal Credit Union

Jerry Maygarden Former State Legislator and Majority Leader, Florida House of Representatives

Jean Pierre N’Dione Part-owner and General Manager, Five Sisters Blues Café, Great Southern Restaurants

Lisa Nellessen-Lara Executive Editor, Pensacola News Journal

Mort O’Sullivan Managing Member of the Gulf Coast Division, Warren Averett CPAs & Advisors

Scott A. Remington President and Shareholder, Clark, Partington, Hart, Larry, Bond & Stackhouse Attorneys at Law

Martha Saunders Provost, University of West Florida

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Julie Sheppard General Counsel and Special Assistant to the Director, IHMC

Josh Sitton Owner and managing member, Bear General Contractors LLC, Offensive Guard, Green Bay Packers

Exists to improve the Produces research Provides support inweekly.net

TWO KEY PRIORITIES FOR 2016 Improving kindergarten readiness: Just 66 percent of children in the Escambia County School District show up for their first day of school ready for kindergarten. While Santa Rosa County has the third best rate of kindergarten readiness among the 67 counties in the state, Escambia County ranks near the bottom. ECARE, GLOBAL LEARNING ACADEMY

e communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quality of life and analysis on key issues to grow small businesses February 4, 2016

Growing jobs: Pensacola must support and strengthen small businesses to create more jobs and better wages. To accomplish this, the Institute will offer a variety of training programs to assist start-ups and existing businesses and organizations to achieve better performance and results.

Visit Studeri.org 11

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Inside Mass Torts By Rick Outzen & Duwayne Escobedo Illustration by Jerry Byrd

Last October, Carla Bartlett of Guysville, Ohio was awarded $1.6 million in the trial of a lawsuit that alleged that C8, a chemical used to make Teflon, from a DuPont Co. plant contaminated drinking water and contributed to her contracting kidney cancer. Some 3,500 people claim they became ill after the company dumped C8 into the Ohio River and their drinking water from its Washington Works plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia. Dupont’s attorneys argued that its plant workers drank the same water as residents. Of its eight employees with cancer in 1989, only one had worked at length with C8. Arguing Bartlett’s case was attorney Mike Papantonio of the Pensacola-based firm of February 4, 2016

Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, P.A. Earlier that same month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a final settlement with British Petroleum of $20.8 billion for its role in the disastrous 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, raising the total from the initial $18.7 billion settlement announced in July. The settlement was the largest environmental settlement — and the largest civil settlement with any single entity — in the nation’s history. One of the four members of the Plaintiffs Executive Committee, as well as class counsel for both the Economic and Property Damages Settlement Class and

the Medical Class, was Brian Barr of Levin Papantonio. In August, Bayer agreed to set aside almost $57 million in a fund to settle Yasmin and Yaz claims outstanding as part of a multidistrict litigation program in Illinois federal court and Yasmin/Yaz lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California state courts. Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella birth control lawsuits filed against Bayer were consolidated in 2009 into a mass tort program in Pennsylvania, a federal multidistrict litigation, and consolidated litigations in New Jersey and California. At its height, more than 12,000 files with multiple plaintiffs per file had been brought in the four juris-

dictions, making it the largest multidistrict litigation in the nation. Bellwether trials in Philadelphia and the MDL were gearing up in 2012, but the litigation was stayed as Bayer began to settle thousands of blood clot claims involving pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis and/or gallbladder injury. In total, Bayer has paid about $2 billion to settle the claims. Serving on the MDL Plaintiff Steering Committee and co-chair of the Discovery Committee on the behalf of the victims was Tim O’Brien of Levin Papantonio. Not a bad year for the Pensacola-based law firm. The type of year that adds to its reputation as the “Giant Killer.” 13

Mike Papantonio / Courtesy Photo

STACKED DECK

Handling cases against insurance companies was a trial lawyer's primary role for decades. His client was injured, and the lawyer dealt with an insurance company to make sure that that person got compensated for the wrongdoing that another individual did. However, over the past 30 years, Corporate America has become more and more empowered. “They've become empowered to the point to where the amount of money they control, the amount of influence they wield is so remarkable that they set standards for politics, social change and cultural change,” Mike Papantonio. The shift called for a new kind of law firm, one that that didn’t go after insurance companies, but one that had the resources to go after the corporations—not for a single injury but for conduct that caused thousands of injuries. “Whether it is a case where a company has created a pharmaceutical that's killing or crippling women and children and everybody that takes their pill, or whether it's Wall Street that is stealing billions of dollars from ‘mom and pop’ pension programs,” said Papantonio. “The role and the challenge for the 21st-century attorney is to know how to go to war with them in their backyard.” He said, “Right now in America, there's only a handful of us, maybe 20 firms or so, who 414 1

do that. The lawyers who do what I'm describing, which is to go after the Goliaths, I can count on my fingers and toes.” Battling mega corporations that make billions around the world has unique challenges. Government agencies fail to enforce the law. The judgeships are handed to lawyers who often come from the corporate defense sector. National media has been reluctant to report corporate wrongdoings. Corporate CEOs focus on short-term profits and take more risks, weighing the potential profits versus possible fines and civil cases. “We have no help most of the time from the government, which is supposed to be looking out for the little guy,” said Papantonio. “The FDA, SEC and EPA, by all standards of evaluation, have become dysfunctional where it comes to taking care of the interest of the average American.” He blamed the dysfunction on “a revolving door” that makes regulators unwilling to do their job because they are seeking future employment with those companies that they are overseeing. He said the BP oil spill best illustrated his point. “One reason the Deepwater Horizon explosion happened was Minerals Management Service (MMS), which was supposed to be protecting citizens along the coast from things like explosions and oil spills, had been commandeered by the oil industry to the extent

that the oil industry was holding parties for mineral management where they were bringing in prostitutes, they were bringing in drugs and they were spreading around money to people in MMS,” said Papantonio. He added, “When we first began prosecuting the BP case, we found no less than a dozen violations that had been committed almost every week by BP for years, and MMS took no action.” Sadly the BP story isn’t unique, according to Papantonio. He said, “I apply the BP compromising of its regulators to a dozen pharmaceutical and environmental cases that we have handled over the years—DuPont Chemical, Dow Chemical, Pfizer, Merc Glaxo. He said another obstacle is that the judiciary has become so pro-corporate. He said he has seen little difference between the appointments to the bench under the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. “Obama's appointments to the federal bench are good judges on social issues, but where it comes to issues that involve people's financial security, they're terrible for the most part,” said Papantonio. “Most of his appointments are lawyers that have come through spending their careers representing corporate America. Very few of them have ever had any common ground with consumers or the average American.” He had few kind words for the national media. “The media has been purchased,” he said bluntly. “Why would Boeing or McDonald Douglas advertise on ABC or any of the networks? Are they trying to sell jets and tanks and missiles to the American public? Or they simply buying influence by spending the advertising dollars in a way that caters to the media?” “The media is reluctant to tell a story if that story hurts their advertisers,” said Papantonio. “That is the scenario that plays itself out in pharmaceutical cases, in Wall Street cases and in environmental cases. “ Why the rise in mass tort cases? Papantonio pointed to the new corporate culture in America. “It used to be that a CEO would stay with a corporation for 25 to 30 years, virtually most of their career,” he said. About 20 years ago, they came out with a new formula. The new CEO has what I call ‘shortterm’ vision. They only stay with a company three to five years.” He explained this new breed of CEO is only moving through the company. “The CEO takes all the risks necessary to increase his bottom line for the short period that they're there,” he said. “If they create a drug for example that injures thousands of people, by the time the company has to end up paying for all those injuries, that CEO has moved on to the next company and the new CEO then has to clean up the mess.”

The CEO is focused on the immediate bottom-line. Papantonio said, “The problem is so bad that rarely are we in a fight with the corporation where we don't discover documents where the corporation is calculating how much money will they generate each year; and what would be the cost to pay for human life loss when they get sued. Those calculation documents are virtually found in every company in every lawsuit.” He said, “The calculation document generally says we're going to make 20 billion dollars, and we're going to have to pay out in the legal costs one billion, so we make 19 billion dollars, that's a pretty good day's profit.” While the corporations are prepared to spend millions, sometimes even billions, to defend against lawsuits, the trial attorney doesn’t have the financial resources to devote to a case, which is where Levin Papantonio steps in. Someone visits an attorney. They have physical problems related to a pharmaceutical, or it might be environmental. “The Dupont-C8 case was an environmental injury, and people started showing up with cancer,” said Papantonio. “A local attorney thought it was odd that all the people in this one community were suffering from cancer. He did an incredible job as a single lawyer simply handling the case by himself.” Knowing that Dupont had armies of law firms in line to defend the corporation, the attorney knew he needed a trial team. “The lawyer that brings a case like that, that discovers a pharmaceutical that's killing people or an environmental tragedy that's killing people, causing cancer or injuries, will tell you, ‘I did all this work, but now I don't know what to do with it.’ That's where our firm comes in,” said Papantonio. “Our firm comes in at the point that somebody now has to take it to trial and confront a huge corporation that has thousands of lawyers,” he said. While the single lawyer may have done the basic legwork and has a semi-truck trailer full of documents and scientific testing, he still isn’t ready to take on a corporation like Dupont or Bayer. “When we come in, we add about three more trailer trucks to that load of documents. We take what he has; we try to make it better. We take the depositions; we do the discovery,” said Papantonio. He added, “A typical case such as DuPont, for example, for us to be having to review 12 million documents is not unusual at all. We have a unique system to make our way through those millions of documents with a system that we devised.” Papantonio said, “The sole practitioner and most law firms don’t have an army of investigators and young attorneys that knock on every door and kick over every rock. They don’t know the experts to bring in.”

"Somebody's trying to make an extra dollar or somebody is trying to take a shortcut, and so it always begins there.” Mike Papantonio

inweekly.net

He added, “That's what we bring to the table immediately, as soon as that lawyer comes to us and says, "I have this big case." By the time the case is brought to trial, the firm may have spent $8-$10 million.

BATTLING GIANTS

Papantonio said there are similarities with every mass torts lawsuit, particularly the British Petroleum, Bayer and Dupont-C8 cases. “You have the part where somebody makes a decision based wholly on greed,” said the attorney. “Somebody's trying to make an extra dollar or somebody is trying to take a shortcut, and so it always begins there.” Most people believe that state or federal government has their best interests in mind and is monitoring the corporations on a day-to-day basis. Papantonio said that doesn’t happen. “The truth is there is nobody watching,” he said. “For example in the C8 case, one would think the EPA was making sure that the water that people were drinking was safe,” said Papantonio. “In fact, it has so much C8 in it that the load of that C8 is going to be in these people's blood for 25 years. While it's in the blood, we know it causes testicular cancer, kidney cancer, pituitary cancer, and a whole host of other illnesses.” He said that the 70,000 people in the Ohio River area drank water contaminated with C8 every single day. “After it was clear about what DuPont had done, even the Department of Justice, who we believe is on our side, chose to totally ignore it. At this point, nobody has been investigated, nobody has been prosecuted, nobody has even been cross-examined about what DuPont did,” he told Inweekly. No individual would have been allowed to walk away from such behavior. He said, “If the average American went out and poisoned their neighbor's drinking water, they'd be imprisoned for 20 years. These people poisoned the drinking water of 70,000 people, and the Department of Justice did nothing.” But that was only one of the challenges in trying the Dupont-C8 case. “We believe that once the story's made known to the public, the media is going to pick up and, at least, do the kind of investigation that needs to be done,” said Papantonio. “Often the media won’t pick up the story until the case is tried, and we win the case.” He said that Dupont had been dumping C8 in the Ohio River for years at a rate of 50,000 pounds a year. “The media had no interest in doing it in this particular case, because DuPont had such a huge influence from an advertising standpoint,” he said. Papantonio also blamed the “dumbing down” of the national media for difficulty and informing the public of corporate wrongdoing. The newsrooms no longer have reporters willing to take the time to understand the stories as complicated as this. February 4, 2016

He said the fourth part of any mass torts case is the calculations made by the corporation: Profit, less possible government fines, less legal fees fighting lawsuits, less settlements and court judgments, equals net profits and CEO bonuses. According to Papantonio, the corporations hire as many defense lawyers as they can and delay the trial as long as possible. He said, “The longer they hold onto their money, the longer they make interest on that money. Once they start making payments, they lose the value of that money, so they're no longer making interest. That's always the case in every single complex case we've Deep Horizon Fire / Courtesy Photo ever handled.” road between people who have the stomach Of the BP, Bayer and DuPont cases, the for this and people who don't. I wasn't excited one that Papantonio personally tried, C8 in about going to trial in this case, but I realized Columbus, Ohio had the smallest outcome. we had no alternatives, and 3,500 people could Why was it important enough for him to be be affected if it went bad.” involved? The attorney said similar challenges came “The C8 verdict was so important to a up in the BP and Bayer cases. fairly low number of $1.6 million, because it “BP didn’t want to spend the money to established the fact that DuPont had put a have a protective mechanism that would chemical into 70,000 individual's blood— have avoided the environmental catastrophe God didn't put C8 in their blood, DuPont that it created in 2010,” said Papantonio. did—and that every one of those people “They chose not to do it, because it was all has a risk of getting cancer and a whole about greed and money.” host of other physical injuries,” he said. He said that while people in Pensacola Papantonio explained, “The $1.6 million may have thought the media was telling the was really all about that. It wasn't about the fact ugly story about the oil spill, BP was spreading that this woman 20 years ago had had cancer. its message across the country that everything It was about the fact that the jury understood was fine on the Gulf Coast. that there's no corporation in America that “BP was buying, I believe at one point should be able to say, ‘I'm going to put someit was $6 million in advertising a month, $6 thing in your blood or your body without your million a month, and the exchange was ‘we'll permission,’ especially when they understood buy advertising from you, but you don't tell the how dangerous the product was. The $1.6 milwhole story.’ That was very typical in mainlion was based almost wholly on that.” stream media, what I call corporate media,” he The verdict set the stage for the trials on told Inweekly. the behalf of the other 3,500 people who have He added, “BP had, at one point, 35 differfiled claims in the Ohio Valley that the Levin ent law firms, and I think it was 35 major law firm is handling. The first case was difficult for firms and 10 major PR firms from all over the his firm to try. Papantonio admitted it wasn't his world working to try to prevent victims from restrongest C8 claim, but he didn’t have a choice. covering. They had people in the White House “That case was actually picked by DuPont,” who were trying to interfere with the prosecuhe explained. “In the process of complex cases, tion of the people who'd done wrong here.” there's a system where the defendants get to In the Bayer case, Yaz was developed to pick the trial. This was the first one to be tried, prevent pregnancy, but corporate executives and it was actually the one DuPont chose to made the decision to market for other things. try. We didn't choose to try that case; they did.” “The CEOs and the sales people with Dupont and Papantonio both understood Bayer made a decision that they couldn't make the risk in this first trial. enough money just selling the product for birth Had he lost the trial, he said, “We would control, so they started lying to the American have put at risk the claims of 3,500 other public and telling them it was good for acne, people and lost about $6 million spent on it was good for weight loss and it was good for preparing their cases.” PMS,” said Papantonio. Papantonio added, “You never want to “Every bit of that was a lie,” he said. “That start a test case, trying the case that the defenlie continued for five years, completely unchaldant picks. That's where the rubber meets the lenged by the FDA until a handful of lawyers

made the FDA focus on it, and made Bayer go out and spend money to retract the lie that they'd been telling for so many years.” He said that research found that women between the ages 18 and 35 who took the drug were six times more likely have a stroke than the other birth control pills that were on the market. Since Bayer was considered, what Papantonio called, “a coveted source of money by the marketing managers working for corporate media,” the story was never told in the U.S. The Levin firm got the Yaz story told in Germany, where Bayer is headquartered. “ I was interviewed for documentaries in Germany, and the only reason the case ended up settling was because of the political pressure they felt, not in the United States, but in Germany,” he said.

THE EQUALIZER

The cards appear to be stacked against the trial team. The corporations can put thousands of lawyers on a case. They have limitless money to hire virtually anybody that they need, to say anything they need. They have the money to influence government and national media. How do you confront that? “In a courtroom, we're all equal,” said Papantonio. “If we do our job, the courtroom is the equalizer. In a typical trial, two or three from Levin Papantonio will be sitting at one table. At the other table will be a half a dozen lawyers sitting and another hundred lawyers behind them in a courtroom. “It honestly comes down to a giant-killer mentality,” said Papantonio. “If you're afraid of giants, you'll always be running away from giants. If you understand that there's no giant in a courtroom, then you understand that at the end of the day, that's all you're trying to do, is get into a courtroom.” {in} 15

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 4-11

Arts & Entertainment art, film, music, stage, books and other signs of civilization...

Thoroughly Thoreau by C. S. Satterwhite

Henry David Thoreau once pondered, “It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” If Thoreau were to pose this same question to Pensacola’s Jamey Jones, the answer would be clear: poetry. Thoreau might also be surprised to find out that he was the inspiration of Jones’ latest poetic project based on the famous writer’s work, “Beyond the Quiet Desperation: Poets Respond to Henry David Thoreau.” Part of Artel Gallery’s current Thoreau-inspired show “Thoreau-ly Natural,” Jones’s poetry event builds on Artel’s call

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to artists to use “natural materials” to create works inspired by Thoreau. Visual art in the exhibit incorporates Thoreau’s themes, made famous in his book “Walden”, by featuring aspects of the environment while incorporating motifs of solitude and selfdiscovery. To bring these subjects together in poetry was a challenge Jones—along with a fairly large and diverse group of local poets—was anxious to accept. Jones, a professor of English at Pensacola State College, currently holds the post of Poet Laureate of Northwest Florida. In his role as Poet Laureate, he’s held numerous readings, poetry workshops and community discussions on the role of poetry in the larger community. Since his appointment, Jones has shared the stage with interesting groups, from Girl Scouts to punk bands. His most recent major reading was at Pensacola’s New Year celebration, reading on the same stage as city officials and local clergy. Since the late 1980s, Jones gained accolades within the local art scene for gathering a wide range of acts to bring the literary arts to the community. While no stranger to bringing poets together or editing poetic journals, “Beyond the Quiet Desperation” is a different type of occasion. “For our event,” Jones said, “I’ve invited roughly 30 local poets to write poems specifically responding to any piece of writing by Thoreau.” To be clear, criteria for this production is not simply poetry inspired by Thoreau, but work “specifically responding” to Thoreau.

would follow the same constraints while Besides Thoreau, Jones’s other inspiration having the freedom to write whatever.” for this public exercise is contemporary poet Of the 30 invited, 24 accepted the chalC. A. Conrad’s “Somatic writing exercises.” lenge. Many of these poets will read their work Somatic poetry uses elements of the physiat the Artel reading. cal environment, very broadly defined, as Participating poets include Quincy “Q” inspiration for poetic work. The concept Hull, Ian Be, Annie Reilly, Patricia Edmisten, rests upon constraints being a means of Katherine Born-Nelson and David Baulch, to creative expression. name but a few. “These experiments are structured “It’s going to be awesome,” said Jones. to make us more present, or what Conrad To complement the reading, a chapdescribes as an ‘extreme present,’ in the act of book of the poems gathered for “Beyond writing,” said Jones. the Quiet Desperation” is being created “The minute details of wherever we may especially for this event. be are recognized more clearly, revealing the “Joseph Smith at Artel has agreed to creative viability of everything around us. They publish the poems in a chapbook specifically specifically cause us to write in situations, for the occasion,” said Jones. Local photographysical or mental, that we would not otherpher Rachael Pongetti, of the Graffiti Bridge wise be in,” said Jones. Project, produced a photograph for the cover Conrad goes further. In his “The Right to “after doing her own reading and meditation Manifest Manifesto,” Conrad states that “the on Thoreau,” Jones added. most vital ingredient to bringing sustainable, Jones hopes to do similar projects with humane change to our world is creativity.” Artel during his tenure as Poet Laureate. Conrad’s description of somatic poetry is fit“Such events are so important for both the viting, considering the event. In the American sual art and poetry communities,” said Jones. canon of literary figures, few come closer to “We are all artists, after all, and I love the idea embodying sustainability and creativity more of mixing the art forms in collaborative ways than Thoreau. and bringing these worlds together.” {in} “I created a list of instructions that require reading Thoreau for a certain amount of time for three to five days, making notes of each reading,” explained Jones. The WHAT: “Beyond the Quiet Desperation: Poets poets would then create poems Respond to Henry David Thoreau” from the notes. WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 “The poems do not have to WHERE: Artel Gallery, 223 S. Palafox refer to, or be about, Thoreau, COST: Free but they can,” said Jones. “What DETAILS: artelgallery.org I envisioned is that each poet

THOREAU-LY MODERN POETRY READING

inweekly.net

calendar

FOREVER DIETING? TIME TO CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT FOOD.

MARDI GRAS CALENDAR PARADES FRIDAY FEB. 5

ANNUAL KREWE OF LAFITTE MARDI GRAS PARADE 8 p.m. The only illuminated night-

time parade in Pensacola. Expect to be entertained with marching bands, lighted floats and great throws as the Krewe of Lafitte kicks off Pensacola Mardi Gras celebrations. Spring and Garden St. kreweoflafitte.net

PARTIES & OTHER MARDI GRAS THEMED EVENTS FRIDAY FEB. 5

HOT GLASS GOLD BREW MARDI GRAS EDITION 5-9 p.m. The Mardi Gras ver-

p.m. One of the country’s original celebration sites, Pensacola hosts this familyoriented Mardi Gras parade in the historical downtown area. Crowds catch beads, doubloons and moon pies galore as they are thrown from floats. Spring and Garden St. pensacolamardigras.com

sion of this popular event will feature music by Cat Daddy, food by Fish Fry Magazine and, of course, art demonstrations. There will be live wheel-thrown pottery, glass bead making and live glass blowing demonstrations featuring guest artists as well as First City Art Center's own John Shoemaker, Jacob Moody and fellow Glass Guild members. Guest artist Loren Miller will be doing a live painting as part of the “American Canvas,” project. First City Art Center, 1080 N. Guillemard St. $25 for non-members; $20 for members. firstcityart.org

SUNDAY FEB. 7

SATURDAY FEB. 6

PENSACOLA GRAND MARDI GRAS PARADE 2

KREWE OF WRECKS PARADE 2 p.m. There’s no parade like the beach parade, which stretches down Via de Luna, ending at the Gulfside Pavilion on Casino Beach. pensacolabeachmardigras.com

THURSDAY 2.4

WINE TASTING AT AWM 5 p.m. Try some-

thing new every week at Aragon Wine Market’s regular wine tasting, only a few blocks from downtown. Aragon Wine Market, 27 S. 9th Ave. aragonwinemarket.com ICE HOCKEY 4:05 p.m. Come out and support Pensacola’s Ice Flyers against Huntsville. Pensacola Bay Center, 201 E. Gregory St. $15-$29. pensacolabaycenter.com FOR TODAY 7 p.m. With Like Moths to Flames, Phinehas, Vanna and Vagrants. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. $18. vinylmusichall.com QUILTERS 7:30 p.m. Illuminating tales contained within various quilt patches will be told with music, drama and dance. The stories depict women on the American frontier through girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, twisters, fire, illness and death. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. $12-$30. pensacolalittletheatre.com

FRIDAY 2.5

WINE TASTING 5-7 p.m. Out and about

in East Hill on Friday night? Stop by City Grocery for their free weekly wine tasting before settling in or heading out for the night. City Grocery, 2050 N. 12th Ave. DATE NIGHT DANCING 7:15-8:15 p.m. Learn the basics of several romantic ballroom and country dance styles in a unique group February 4, 2016

LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Jackson’s and Chef Irv Miller are pleased to welcome Chef Leon Galatoire, a 4th generation member of the founding family of New Orleans historic

class that keeps partners together. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $5. dancecraftfl.com QUILTERS 7:30 p.m. Illuminating tales contained within various quilt patches will be told with music, drama and dance. The stories depict women on the American frontier through girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, twisters, fire, illness and death. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. $12-$30. pensacolalittletheatre.com GRAYSON CAPPS 8 p.m. With Linda Sue Delgado. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. $10. vinylmusichall.com

SATURDAY 2.6

SANTA ROSA FARMERS MARKET 8 a.m.-1

p.m. Fresh local produce, honey, baked goods and live music. Pace Presbyterian Church, Woodbine Road, Pace. PALAFOX MARKET 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Fresh produce, live plants, baked goods, fine art and antiques are just a few of the items offered at the weekly Palafox Market. Items originate directly from participating vendors, including dozens of local farmers, home gardeners and area artists. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, N. Palafox. palafoxmarket.com VALENTINE’S DAY FOLKLORE 10:30 a.m.Noon. Who was Valentine? Who is Cupid? Scott Davis, folklore researcher, presents

restaurant, Galatoire’s to Pensacola. Jackson’s, 400 S. Palafox. $45. jacksonsrestaurant.com MARDI GRAS CELEBRATION 1 p.m. Live reggae music by Sway Jah Vu will kick off with the parade at 2 p.m. Casino Beach Parking Lot, 41 Fort Pickens Rd. casinobeachbear.com

MONDAY FEB. 8

A LUMINOUS LIFE HYPNOTHERAPY

SUSAN DUNLOP, MA, CHT

INTERNATIONALLY CERTIFIED HYPNOTHERAPIST

850-346-7865 EAST HILL

www.luminouslifehypnotherapy.com

Krewe of Wrecks Red Beans and Rice 11

a.m. Billed as “the world's largest free lunch,” the Krewe of Wrecks will serve red beans and rice for Ludi Gras revelers. The Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. pensacolabeachmardigras. com

TUESDAY FEB. 9

MARDI GRAS FAT TUESDAY STREET PARTY 8 p.m. Everyone is welcome to have

the last hurrah before Lent. The Procession officially begins when Palafox and Government Streets will host the biggest Mardi Gras Street Party this side of Bourbon St. No charge to join the fun. Palafox St. pensacolamardigras.com

unique & affordable

Join us for Wine Tastings Thursdays 5-7 p.m. 27 S. 9th Ave.

433-WINE or 433-9463

www.aragonwinemarket.com

selected sources of our Valentine’s Day observance. West Florida Public Library, meeting room C. 239 N. Spring St. mythos. sd@gmail.com BRUSH UP ON OPERA 5 p.m. Pensacola Opera is pleased to present Brush Up on Opera, a hands-on creative workshop. Learn about the visual elements of opera while you paint a scene inspired by The Merry Widow. Pensacola Opera, 75 S. Tarragona St. $40. pensacolaopera.com QUILTERS 7:30 p.m. Illuminating tales contained within various quilt patches will be told with music, drama and dance. The stories depict women on the American frontier through girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, twisters, fire, illness and death. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. $12-$30. pensacolalittletheatre.com ABIGAIL WILLIAMS 9:30 p.m. With Lustravi and Curse of the Flesh. The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. $10. pensacolahandlebar. com

SUNDAY 2.7

QUILTERS 2:30 p.m. Illuminating tales

contained within various quilt patches will be told with music, drama and dance. The stories depict women on the American frontier through girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, twisters, fire, illness and death. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S.

www.radiofreepensacola.com 17

calendar point, counted cross stitch and pulled threads. On display through February 24. The Wright Place, 6 E. Wright St.

Jefferson St. $12-$30. pensacolalittletheatre.com AGENT ORANGE 7 p.m. With In The Whale and It Starts Today. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. $7-$10. vinylmusichall.com

MONDAY 2.8

NEW IN THE Q

HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS, MEST, THE ATARIS

6 p.m. With Handguns, London Falling, and The Offer. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. $20. vinylmusichall.com DANCE LESSONS 6:30 p.m. Lessons, country and swing. Learn the country two-step at this weekly class, which is followed by a social dance at 8 p.m. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $10. dancecraftfl.com GERI X 9 p.m. With Chain Smoking Hags, Monster Strut, and Wildhearts. The Handlebar, 319 N. Tarragona St. $10. pensacolahandlebar.com

TUESDAY 2.9

IN THE MOOD 3 p.m. Hop aboard the “Chatanooga Choo Choo” and you’ll soon be “In the Mood” to hear some great musicians “Sing, Sing, Sing.” Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox Pl. pensacolasaenger.com DANCE LESSONS 6:30 p.m. Lessons, country and swing. Learn the country two-step at this weekly class, which is followed by a social dance at 8 p.m. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $10. dancecraftfl.com TUESDAY NIGHT POETRY NIGHT 7 p.m. Free open-mic poetry event every Tuesday. Sluggo’s Vegetarian Restaurant, 101 S. Jefferson St. facebook.com/TNPN MARDI GRAS FAT TUESDAY STREET PARTY 8 p.m. Everyone is welcome to have the last hurrah before Lent. The Procession officially begins when Palafox and Government Streets will host the biggest Mardi Gras Street Party this side of Bourbon St. No charge to join the fun. Palafox St. pensacolamardigras.com

WEDNESDAY 2.10

DANCE PARTY 8-10 p.m. A mix of swing,

country and ballroom music for partner dancing on the best wood dance floor in the area. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $5. dancecraftfl.com

“Samauma” by Jacqueline Bishop / Women Creating

arts & culture

≥Exhibits

MY ENDLESS QUEST FOR THE CHTHONIC

Working in both two and three dimensions, Jim Jipson creates photographs and sculptures that poetically reinterpret natural forms into mysterious abstractions. On display until February 13. Museum hours and location: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday, 12-4 p.m. TAG Gallery, Center for Fine & Performing Arts, 11000 University Pkwy. Uwf.edu FEARLESS FOURSOME This session,

feature artists are Debbie Andress,

Sandy Ford, Patricia O’Neal and Pat Page. Debbie Andress is best known for her portrayals of wildlife and orchids. Sandy Ford is focusing on painting clouds, while Patricia O’Neal is pushing boundaries. Pat Page, a local of Pensacola, has made her hometown her subject. On display through February 16. Museum hours and location: MondaySaturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays 1-5 p.m. Quayside Gallery, 17 E. Zarragossa St. quaysidegallery.com NEEDLE ART SHOW

Over 75 needle art pieces featuring stitches such as hardanger, needle-

Quayside Art Gallery welcomes Deb Chilote, watercolor & acrylics, Amber Dawn, portraits in acrylic on plexiglass, Irmi Presutto, seascapes in acrylics, Ginger Osborne, water colors, Kat Bush, seascapes, pet portraits in oil, Cathy Painter, stained glass and kaleidoscopes, Joyce Williams, glass engraving, Karin Gundmundson, acrylics, and JC Findley, photography. On display through February 16. Museum hours and location: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Quayside Gallery, 17 E. Zarragossa St. quaysidegallery. com ANNUAL YOUTH ART FOCUS The PMA

presents the 62nd annual Youth Art Focus exhibition, in partnership with the Escambia County School District and in recognition of National Youth Art Month. The exhibit highlights the best

works from over 500 art students and educators within Escambia County Schools. On display through February 6. Museum hours and location: TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. pensacolamuseum.org

COLLECTION IN CONTEXT: WOMEN CREATING This ex-

hibition presents the diversity and growing strength of the PMA’s Permanent Collection highlighting female modern and postmodern artists through a variety of media. On display until February 27. Museum hours and location: TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. pensacolamuseum.org

Call For Art

ANNUAL MEMBERS’ JURIED EXHIBITION

The Pensacola Museum of Art invites its members to participate in the Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition. Deadline for submission is Friday, February 12. Entry rules, regulations and online submission forms are available on the museum website. The exhibition will be on display from March 4 through

April 15. Museum hours and location: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. pensacolamuseum. org

UPTOWN/DOWNTOWN Artists are

invited to submit their contemporary creations to Artel’s latest exhibit which is themed “Uptown/ Downtown.” Haves/ have-nots, city skyline/deserted slums, dress up/dress down. Bringing contrasts together visually is the point of the exhibit. As a diptych or contrasting subjects in one work, go to two extremes and come up with the visual vibration that arrives. Submission is Saturday, March 5, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sunday, March 6, 1-4 p.m. Artel Gallery, 223 S. Palafox. artelgallery.com

Classes & Workshops

“MAKE-YOUROWN-GLASS” CLASS

10a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, February 5 and Saturday February 6. Held weekly on Friday and Saturday, First City Art Center offers weekly “Make-Your-OwnGlass” classes, no

previous glassblowing skills necessary. The classes are open to anyone age 8 and older and range in price from $25-$45. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required and can be made by calling 429-1222. First City Art Center, 1060 N. Guillemard St. firstcityart.org

INTRODUCTION TO POTTERY ON THE WHEEL 6-8:30 p.m.

Monday, February 8. During this weekly workshop held on Monday evenings at First City Art Center, instructor Pearl VanHoove works individually with students to develop consistency in throwing on the wheel. Participants receive an introduction to materials, equipment and throwing techniques. Each session begins with a brief demonstration followed by hands-on time at the wheel. The class is $40 and open to individuals age 14 and up. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required and can be made by calling 4291222. Class is limited to two participants. First City Art Center, 1060 N. Guillemard St. firstcityart.org

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news of the weird FRONTIERS OF FASHION Even though concealed-carry gun permit-holders in Texas can now "open carry," pistol-packing women concerned with fashion are not limited to traditional firearms in ordinary cowboy holsters. An online company, The Well Armed Woman, offers such carry options as stylish leggings, lace waistbands and an array of underarm and bra holsters (even an in-cup model, the "Marilyn") in leopard-print and pastel colors. However, a woman's body shape and size may be more important shopping considerations, according to the company's founder. "A 32A bust could not conceal a Glock 19 very well—nor would a 42DD-or-larger (front) allow for effective cross-draw carry." DEMOCRACY BLUES In January, Robert Battle took the oath of office for his second term as a city councilman in East Chicago, Indiana—administered at the county lockup, where he is being held without bail, charged with a cold-blooded murder during a drug deal. The crime made news in October (i.e., before election day), yet Battle still won his race. According to law, he cannot be forced out of office unless he is convicted or admits the crimes, and he had the right to vote for himself in the election (except that he failed to request an absentee ballot). CANONICAL MARIJUANA (1)The Albany, New York, company Vireo Health told reporters it would soon offer the world's first certified Kosher marijuana, announcing that the Orthodox Union of New York had authenticated it as having met Jewish dietary laws (e.g., grown with insect-free plants). (Other Kosher-validating officials complained that the approval should apply only to marijuana that is eaten, not smoked.) (2) Two habit-wearing nuns were scheduled to ask the Merced (California) City Council in January to decline its prerogative under state law to ban dispensing or cultivating medical marijuana. The nuns' order makes and sells salves and tonics for pain management, using a strain of cannabis containing only a trace of psychoactive material. BRIGHT IDEAS Since the (naturally insulated) uterus can be a lonely space, Institut Marques of Barcelona, Spain, recently demonstrated a tampon-like "speaker" to carry soothing, specially selected, 54-decibel ("hushed tone") rhythms that supposedly improve fetal growth. In the Babypod's first "concert," the singer Soraya performs Christmas carols. (However, documented evidence for such a device was limited to success of in-vitro fertilization when music was wafted through during the first 48 hours of sperm-egg union.) COMPELLING EXPLANATIONS The Latest in Corruption News: (1) Italy's highest court freed a man in January because the bribe he offered a cop to avoid a DUI ticket was "too small" to be serious—100 euros (about $108). (2) Lawyers for John Bills (former Chicago

by Chuck Shepherd

city commissioner on trial for taking bribes on a traffic-camera contract) said Bills was obviously innocent because everyone knows that, in Chicago, only bribing the mayor (or at least an alderman) will get anything done. (3) A security guard in Nairobi, Kenya, despairingly told a New York Times reporter in November (detailing corruption so rampant that, for example, ballpoint pens were being sold to the government for $85 each) that "If (people)'re going to steal, please, just steal a little." The CONTINUING CRISIS A former lecturer for Spanish classes at the liberal arts Amherst College near Northampton, Massachusetts, sued the school in December after it failed to renew her contract—leading the lecturer to charge that the Spanish department had tried to solicit student course enrollment by prostitution. Lecturer Dimaris Barrios-Beltran accused her supervisor, Victoria Maillo, of hiring only attractive "teaching assistants" and encouraging them to "date" Amherst students with the ulterior motive of signing them up for Spanish classes—to boost the department's profile. (College officials said they could not corroborate the accusation, but a lawyer for BarriosBeltran said Maillo is no longer employed at Amherst.) LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS Chutzpah! (1) Michael Leonard, 53, was charged in December with stealing a package that moments earlier had been dropped off by a courier. The delivery was to a Prince George's County, Maryland, police station, and Leonard, hanging around in the station (to register as a sex offender), walked out with the package when no one was looking. (However, a station surveillance camera caught his face.) (2) Sean Lyons, 23, wanted on an Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, arrest warrant since October as a drug dealer, was arrested in January— at the police station, where officers recognized him when he came to give information as a victim of an unrelated hit-and-run accident.

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THE ARISTOCRATS! (1) David Newman, a prominent emergency room doctor at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, was recently charged with two counts of sexual abuse, one involving drugging, groping and masturbating onto the unconscious body of a female patient. (2) Well-known restaurateur Dan Hoyt, 53, was arrested in January and charged with exposing (and "pleasuring") himself to two women, repeatedly, at a New York City subway station —and to one he had blatantly asked, "Can I masturbate to you?" Hoyt is the owner-chef at Quintessence in the East Village and gained notoriety in 2005 when a subway passenger photographed him "in action" during a previous weak moment. {in}

Send your weird news to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla., 33679 or weirdnews@earthlink.net, or go to newsoftheweird.com February 4, 2016

A C E L E B R AT I O N O F D I F F E R E N C E M A K E R S I N P E N S ACO L A Pensacola has been blessed with families who have helped to mold our community, generation after generation. They came here ready to work hard and take risks to make a difference. This series of stories celebrates Pensacola’s 1st generation and the legacy of contributions they started.

Lamar Switzer

THE

FAMILIES

When Charles Wilbur Lamar and his family arrived in Northwest Florida in 1902, they were the 1st generation to make Pensacola home. The Lamars, Huguenot Protestants, had fled France generations prior, resettling and prospering in Virginia, Maryland and Georgia. C.W. Lamar followed family connections to become an officer in the newly formed American National Bank, then located in the Pensacola Opera House. That same year, J.M. Coe created the Pensacola Advertising Company to promote the opera’s coming attractions using outdoor posters.

Coe and Lamar soon became partners and joint owners of both concerns, but by 1908 they decided to part ways. Legend has it that the two flipped a coin to see which would gain ownership of the opera house or the poster business. Many felt that Lamar had lost when the coin toss awarded him the outdoor company, which he renamed Lamar Advertising. C.W. Lamar remained a banker and public benefactor until his death in 1944, at which point Charles Lamar Jr. took over as General Manager of Lamar Advertising. After a 35-year career in the family business, Charles Lamar Jr. died in 1960. Charles Wilbur Lamar

Among C.W.’s three daughters was Anna Ashley, who would go on to marry future Admiral Wendell Gray Switzer and become matriarch of the next generation. Anna Lamar Switzer’s daughter, Ann (DeeDee), married Kevin Patrick Reilly, who become GM of Lamar Advertising Company in 1958 and generated a huge expansion across Louisiana, Florida and Alabama. In 2002, the descendants of C.W. Lamar celebrated the 100th anniversary of Lamar Advertising and all those who helped transform a small Pensacola sign company into one of the nation’s largest outdoor advertising firms.

Anna Lamar Switzer

Charles Lamar joined American National Bank when it was located in the Pensacola Opera House and served as president when the bank’s tower was erected in 1910.

Promoting the Arts & Education Anna Lamar Switzer was a patron of the fine arts. In 1998, the Lamar, Reilly and Switzer families donated $1 million to Pensacola State College to expand its Visual Arts Gallery, which was later renamed the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts. In 2014, the families donated another $1 million toward construction of the Charles W. Lamar Studio Gallery, dedicated to the family patriarch. Family members received the 2015 Community College Benefactor of the Year Award and continue to serve in leadership roles at PSC.

When C.W. Lamar brought his family to Pensacola, it forever altered the landscape of our community. The business acumen and generosity of the Lamar, Switzer and Reilly families have helped move our city forward in numerous ways, from providing good jobs and supporting the arts, to revitalizing the Brent Block and realizing our community’s dream for downtown.

Saluting 1st Generation Difference Makers: If you have a suggestion for a family to feature, email Quint@studergroup.com.

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Independent News | February 4, 2016 | inweekly.net

1/26/16 9:36 AM