SELLING SNAKE OIL IN THE PROMISED LAND

By Jeremy Morrison

For a few moments, everyone was yucking it up, listening to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell reminisce about "carpet farming" crack in Minneapolis, but the mood swerved into a dark, apocalyptic nightmare.

"So, what shall be the answer for the nations? For the unruly kings? For the heathens that rage?" screamed Pastor Hank Kunneman.

Kunneman wore a black suit that complimented his ink-black hair. His face contorted into masks of pious anguish and glistened wet with sweat. He had just read off a list of homerun prophesies and was now relaying an experience during which he was lifted by his hair, high above the Earth, and shown the future.

"Look, for you will see great shakings. For even now, this nation shall shake up on the East Coast, and in the middle and even in the place of D.C. and upon the West. Why is this happening?" Kunneman roared.

The question was near rhetorical for the crowd assembled inside the Brownsville Assembly of God Church. The great shakings are, of course, because the 2020 presidential election was stolen from God's preferred candidate.

"God anointed Donald Trump; that anointing is still upon him," Kunneman assured the crowd.

Behind him, beams of stage lighting illuminated on billowings from a fog machine and reflected off the brassy gaudiness of his watch and lapel pin. Beside him roost a carnival-barker collection of televangelists and a pillow salesman.

This is FlashPoint Live, a rally-style extension of the namesake's online and broadcast presence. After a handful of live events last year, FlashPoint kicked off 2023 on Thursday, Feb. 16, with a two-day stretch in Pensacola, aiming to spread its philosophy of Christian nationalism.

Raising Flashpoint Army

The line of attendees for FlashPoint's opening night in Pensacola snaked from the doors of the Brownsville Church into the depths of the campus's packed parking lots. They were there for the "prophetic perspective to what is happen ing in our world" and had been promised "a dynamic, rally-style atmosphere" as well as "news and insights, hard truths and humor."

Taking on trappings of both revival and political rally, the FlashPoint event consists of a panel of personalities from the corresponding broadcast operation, like Kunneman and host Gene Bailey. The panelists' banter and presentations volley wildly between stand-up comedy routines and hellfire sermons.

FlashPoint—itself an extension of Kenneth Copeland Ministries—held its first rally in Tulsa, Okla., last year, which reportedly attracted 12,000 people, though Barry Tubbs, an associate minister with Kenneth Copeland Ministries, calls that "an anomaly."

"It's the first one we had done—you had the newness," Tubbs said, standing outside the Brownsville rally.

Following events in Atlanta and Phoenix attracted far less, but still in the thousands. And the Pensacola event was certainly bursting at the seams. The purpose of each is the same, "to inform people how to get more involved."

"We're interested in trying to have an effect on some of these issues that we see in our communities, whether it's race or poverty or CRT issues," Tubbs explained.

Later in the evening, FlashPoint panelist Lance Wallnau framed this for a crowd already attuned to phrases like "third great awakening" and "divine alignment." "We cannot be under the government of demonic influence; we have to see a change in government."

Like the other FlashPoint events, the Pensacola event featured two rally-revival nights and a collection of daytime flash-sessions—meetings designed to equip attendees to impact the varying strata of governance.

FlashPoint Live panelist Rick Green distilled the event's overall mission into a playful call and response. "Did anybody show up that would like to see a rival of the Biblical principles of Jesus Christ in the culture? Anybody? Alright, good. Anybody that also would like to see a restoration of constitutional jurisdictions of government and the proper role of government?"

"We're tired of just the philosophy," Green told attendees. "It's time to actually put this to work, so we're going to put some meat on the bones. We're actually going to show you how your local community politics work, what you can do about your school board, your commissioners' court, your city council, your state legislature, and help us build that farm team."

The Gospel Of Christian Nationalism

The philosophy underpinning events such as FlashPoint Live is Christian nationalism, which Public Religion Research Institute CEO Melissa Deckman defined as "the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation and that we should continue to be governed by Christian values and conservative Christian philosophy."

The PRRI, in partnership with the Brookings Institution, released a report this month exploring America's relationship with Christian nationalism. The report cites the philosophy's "rising influence" in American politics, "threat to the health of our democracy," as well as a culture war between "a right animated by a Christian nationalist worldview and Americans who embrace the country's growing racial and religious diversity."

"This report was really an attempt to try to help quantify the extent to which Christian nationalist ideology is adhered to in the American public," Deckman said, "and to see, essentially, what sorts of things sort of intersect with those viewpoints, in terms of partisanship and race and antisemitism and patriarchal views and anti-immigrant views, authoritarianism, all those things together, unpacking really what makes up the different criteria of Christian nationalism."

While this report found that fewer than three in 10 Americans could be considered true believers of the philosophy, Deckman said, "We find that Republicans are much more likely to be Christian nationalists and white evangelical protestants are more likely to be Christian nationalists than other Americans. And currently, the base of the party is disproportionately made up of those individuals. That's where I think the concern is from the perspective of American democracy."

And why is Christian nationalism bad for our democracy?

"I think they're more likely, essentially, not to want to have a religiously pluralistic society and not to care as much about the norms of democracy as they are about making sure that Christian nationalist views are implemented by government," Deckman said.

Deeper in the PRRI report, it gets darker, finding that adherents of Christian nationalism philosophy are more than twice as likely to entertain an appetite for political violence.

"You just have to look at what happened on Jan. 6, 2021," Deckman said. "You look at the sea of Trump supporters who were storming the Capitol; there's a lot of Christian flags and religious iconography. I guess it's the fusion of religion and partisanship, and those things together, that make it, I think, potentially a threat to our country and our democracy."

Christian nationalists don't usually use the label Christian nationalist because it tends to carry negative connotations. But along the once-fringes of the modern Republican party, some people do use the term. Georgia's Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who spoke at last summer's FlashPoint Live event in Atlanta, wears the label like a badge of honor.

"I am being attacked by the godless left because I said I'm a proud Christian Nationalist," Greene fumed in July.

A month earlier, Greene's counterpart in Colorado, Rep. Lauren Boebert, streamlined the essence of Christian nationalism into near-mono syllabic simplicity that could well be slapped on Tshirts and sold at a FlashPoint rally.

"I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk," Boebert quipped.

The FlashPoint Army in Pensacola can sympathize with such a sentiment. They, too, are tired of this separation-of-church-and-state junk. And they're learning how to do something about it.

"The lion is about to roar," Wallnau told them. "America is about to be shaken. And many of you are going to be instrumental in this next move." {in}

To read the full PRRI report on Christian nationalism in America, visit bit.ly/3Spv3oZ.

EGGFEST CRACKS RECORD More than doubling what organizers gave away in 2021, Pensacola EggFest saw record participation in 2022 to boost its infusion into the community. A record $113,500 is going to local charities as a result of this Pensacola foodie event. The event, whose motto is #goodfood for a #goodcause, creates a culinary mash-up of friendships, camaraderie and delicious food.

"There's a lot of love in our heart for the Pensacola area and for the charities that have been a part of Pensacola EggFest over the last 10 years," said co-founder Lisa Lyter. "When we total it all up, Pensacola EggFest has given more than $650,000 to local charities. Those charities are kids who won't go to bed hungry, kids fighting cancer who will get more research and families who will feel safer in our communities."

The recipients of the 2022 Pensacola EggFest donations include Pensacola's Finest Foundation, Manna, Rally Pensacola, Studer Community Institute, Hunting for Healing, Escambia County Fire Rescue, Escambia County Sheriff's Office Foundation and PACE Center for Girls.

Co-founder Doug Jolly said, "People are really starting to notice what Pensacola EggFest is doing throughout the year as much as our November event. Our cook teams mobilize to serve thousands of meals to thousands of deserving people—volunteers working for a local cause, businesses who lost everything in a storm, families in need."

Pensacola EggFest, sponsored by Kia Pensacola, has become a destination event. The economic impact to Pensacola has been verified at over $200,000 for just the main event. Cook teams, judges and visitors come from Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Louisiana.

To learn more about Pensacola EggFest, visit the Facebook page or pensacolaeggfest.com.

OFFERS POURING IN The Escambia County Commission may have the luxury of picking from several suitors interested in buying and developing Outlying Landing Field 8, next to Navy

Federal Credit Union's Pensacola campus in the Beulah area.

The county spent two decades acquiring OLF 8 from the Navy in exchange for 600 acres around NAS Whiting Field in Santa Rosa County, with the help of the Greater Pensacola Chamber and FloridaWest. In 2019, the Board of County Commissioners approved the OLF 8 Master Plan that allocated 271 acres of the site to commerce and industrial; 61 acres to residential, including duplexes, townhomes and multifamily; 47 acres to mixed-use centers, such as residential over retail and office over retail; and 45 acres to trails and public amenities.

In December, Triumph Gulf Coast awarded the county $14.2 million to build infrastructure for the industrial portions of OLF 8, with Escambia County fronting the first $3 million of the $14.2 million. According to the grant application, the county has a potential tenant, under the name "Operation Sapphire," that will invest $40 million in its facility. The county must repay all or a portion of the Triumph grant if Project Sapphire doesn't create 338 new jobs.

In 2019, the county rejected a $16 million offer for 400 acres of OLF 8. The new round of offers started with a letter of intent for $33 million from D.R. Horton, one of the nation's largest homebuilders. The board received another proposal before the BCC's morning meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16.

County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh announced on WCOA, "It's a $35 million all-cash offer from a giant national firm, Breland Companies, that does mixed-use development." said Bergosh, adding that Breland wanted to close within six months, a half-year ahead of D.R. Horton's proposed closing deadline.

He said, "And most importantly, they intend to work within the existing master plan."

Before the BCC met at 9 a.m. on Thursday, D.R. Horton raised its offer to $38 million. The commissioners instructed staff to negotiate with all the prospective buyers and bring back the best offer to the board.

For Bergosh, the final agreement must honor the OLF 8 Master Plan. "There is no need in go - ing backwards from the master plan that we all worked so hard to negotiate. I intend to honor my word by vote and that compromise, which is encapsulated in the master plan." in the same Grade) to reflect this increase from Oct. 1. Employees that received no raise on Oct. 1 shall receive an additional $1.21 to their base hourly rate, which will be retroactive to July 1, 2022. More details are available on the school district's website.

On Friday, Feb. 17, Bergosh appeared on WCOA again with more breaking news. "We've got three additional interested parties. Now, none of them have pressed an offer across the table yet, but there's one from the Midwest, one from out West and another from a local. So, my fingers are crossed, but in the next couple of days, additional offers could come in. It's very exciting, and it's a big win for this community and for the county."

The agreed settlement will go to ratification for all members of the Education Staff Professionals bargaining unit to vote. If ratified, the proposed raise will likely be placed on the agenda for approval by the school board on March 21.

SHORT-TERM RENTALS

On Wednesday, Feb. 15, the Pensacola City Council held a special meeting to discuss short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, inside the city limits. Several shortterm rental landlords showed up worried that the council might regulate their income and interfere with their business model, but before the council makes any ordinance changes, more data is needed.

Councilwoman Jennifer Brahier told Inweekly, "The studies are really difficult because it's estimated that less than 10% of short-term rental owners voluntarily register, and there are hundreds of platforms on which they could be renting their properties. So it's very, very difficult to get a hand on exactly how many there are within our area, but it's growing exponentially."

Brahier said the conservative estimate is about 1,200 short-term rental units within the city limits, and not all of them are collecting sale taxes on their rentals. She added local owners can make a difference in ensuring renters understand local codes.

"A lot of the complaints that you see are because people are not familiar with the area, so they come in, set up within a neighborhood, and they do things differently than we do," said Brahier. "And so you get a lot of code enforcement or police calls, but if the owner is onsite, you tend to not have that kind of conflict. So there is a big difference between local owners and people stepping in from out of state, buying the properties here and essentially running quasi-hotels within neighborhoods. It's complicated."

PAY RAISES On Feb. 9, the Escambia County School District of Escambia County and the Union of Education Staff Professionals reached an agreement on the raises of its employees for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Both parties have worked to best address the compression generated by new legislation that increased all Florida public schools' minimum wage to $15 per hour last October.

A new salary schedule will be created to reflect $15 as the entry-level hourly rate for Grade 9, Step 1. This new schedule will reflect Step increases of no less than 1.5%. All bargaining unit employees shall receive no less than a $1.21 per hour raise.

Employees that have already received this amount due to the $15 per hour implementation will be placed on the appropriate step (with -

STUDER'S NEW PARTNER Quint Studer's new company, Healthcare Plus Solutions Group, has become an exclusive partner with Aramark Healthcare+.

Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) is a publicly held company that provides food, facilities and uniform services to millions of people in 19 countries around the world. Its Aramark Healthcare+ focuses on process improvements for healthcare systems.

Studer and Dan Collard, a senior leader at Studer Group for 13 years, founded Healthcare Plus Solutions Group last year to focus on leadership development solutions for health care organizations.

According to Aramark's announcement, Healthcare Plus Solutions Group will develop coaching and training to build skills for patient interaction that gives Aramark Healthcare+ managers and front-line associates the expertise to support nursing units and help improve patient care.

Studer told Inweekly that a key to the partnership was his relationship with Bart Kaericher, Aramark Healthcare+ CEO and president. "About two years ago, I got a call from Bart when he took over as president of Aramark Healthcare+. He said he would like to create something really, really special and reimagine the food service and housekeeping services that they provide to hospitals because they believe they have a clinical outcome. Would I be interested in working with them?"

Healthcare Plus Solutions Group did some pilot programs, which led to the partnership agreement. Studer said, "They basically are outsourcing two things that they've done internally to my new company—how do you train and develop managers and the whole patient experience."

BROTHER FOX'S WINGS Darian Hernandez, the chef at Lily Hall's Brother Fox restaurant, shared what makes his chicken wings so unique with Inweekly publisher Rick Outzen on WCOA's "Real News with Rick Outzen." Hernandez recently won the "Blind Date" competition on the Food Network's "Chopped."

"We do a twist on smokey sticky wings," Chef Hernandez said. "We have a beer brine—seasoned with lots of peppercorns and aromatic spices—and we poach the wings in that first. So you're gonna get a lot of those flavors. And then from there, we throw them on the grill, and we have a barbecue sauce made with sorghum syrup and tons of spices."

He laughed, "You're gonna have to taste. It's definitely messy, but it's one of those fun dishes."

WOODEN SHIP TOURS As Pensacola attempts to position itself as a player in the world of sailing, locals will have an opportunity to have an up-close look at a notable sailing ship docked at the municipal dock downtown.

During mid-March, a vessel with the nonprofit Sailing Ships of Maine will be docked in Pensacola on the final week of a 65-day ocean-classroom expedition. In exchange for the city of Pensacola waiving docking fees, the organization will offer free tours to the general public and local students.

In a request to the city, Sailing Ships of Maine Port Captain Pamela Coughlin requested the waiver and relayed the organization's mission to "provide hands-on educational opportunities for people of all ages to learn about teamwork, leadership, marine science and maritime history."

As the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Pensacola City Council approved Sailing Ships of Maine's request to waive the dockage fees Monday with a unanimous vote. The vessel will be docked in Pensacola overnight on Feb. 26, then for 10 days in March, from March 17-27. The cost estimate of the fees is $689.78.

The schooner Harvey Gamage was launched in 1973. She is a wooden, 131-foot gaff-rigged topsail schooner with bunk space for 39 people. The ship's home port is in Portland, Maine.

Over the last couple of years, Harvey Gamage has sailed from Maine to Alabama, completing two semesters at sea, as well as a collection of shorter educational voyages with a variety of youth groups. Typically, the vessel sails with nine professional crew and 22 youth trainees.

As it passes through Pensacola this year, Harvey Gamage will carry 19 students from the Naval Sea Cadet Core. Prior to the city's waiving of the docking fees, the NSCC's Scott Boyd made the case that the sailing organization was a beneficial program that could use a break on local fees.

The free tours will be offered during the schooner's 10-day stay in March. The public tours will be provided on March 19 and 26, while the city will determine the scheduling of school tours. For more information, visit sailingshipsmaine.org/harvey-gamage.

SUNBELT BASKETBALL RETURNS Pensacola once again will host both the men's and women's Sun Belt Basketball Championship Tournaments at the Pensacola Bay Center from Feb. 28-March 6. This is the third consecutive year the city has hosted the tournaments.

Visit Pensacola CEO Darien Schaefer talked with Inweekly about the tournament's impact on the local economy.

"A tournament like this that pulls fans from 14 different communities and elsewhere, bringing them down into Pensacola for the first time," said Schaefer. "We see a lot of those folks coming back year after year as a new tradition. Last year, we had $1.6 million in spending, 4,400 room nights generated, and 6,500 unique individuals came out and attended the games."

He continued, "So we're definitely looking to build on that this year, and we really think the third year, we're gonna see those numbers really drive upwards."

To learn more about the tournament, visit visitpensacola.com/sunbelt.

COMMENTS

SOUGHT

At its Feb. 16 meeting, the Escambia County Commission discussed proposed infrastructure repair projects in Escambia County as part of the Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program. Led by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity's Office of LongTerm Resiliency, the program is designed to fund infrastructure restoration and hardening projects in communities impacted by Hurricane Sally.

The board has selected five projects to prioritize as part of the program. The projects include energy-efficient Escambia County Transit Center and solar-powered bus shelters with ADA upgrades; Upgrades to the Pensacola Bay Center; Indoor multi-use facility at Ashton Brosnaham Park; Beach Haven stormwater and septic-to-sewer projects; and 11 stormwater projects in Escambia County.

The board values citizen and stakeholder engagement and will provide a reasonable opportunity of at least 30 days for citizen comment and ongoing citizen access to information about the use of these grant funds. During the development of the grant applications, the county will consult with disaster-affected citizens, stakeholders, local government, public housing authorities and other affected parties in the surrounding geographic area. The public comment period for these projects is open until Monday, March 20. All public comments can be emailed to sallyrecoverygrant@myescambia. com. For more information about these projects and other proposed Rebuild Florida programs, visit myescambia.com/sallyrecoverygrant.

EARLY 5K REGISTRATION Whether you run or walk, the Gulf Coast is invited to participate in the 2023 Navy Federal 5K at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 1, at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St.

Early registration is now open at a discounted rate of $18 for adults and $15 for youth ages 5-13. Children 6 and under can also participate in the Sammie Sprint, a free quarter-mile race around Plaza Ferdinand. Participation in this event benefits the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation, which funds projects and programs, including Grants for Excellence and employee appreciation programs. This event will also benefit the Santa Rosa Education Foundation, and its mission is to enhance and raise awareness of public education.

The early registration discount is available through March 18. However, registration will remain open until the start of the race. Registration is required for all participants and includes a race shirt.

This race is designed to be fun for runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. Awards are given for top male/female/hand cyclist or wheelchair user overall finishers and top three male/female users in each age group. After the race, there will be refreshments and entertainment. {in}

Well do."

It's the phrase Cornelia Marie Robinson Edwards surmises her great-grandmother, Celestine, might say if she were alive to see the terracotta orange bed and breakfast on Baylen Street named in her honor.

"Well do," "Lord have mercy," or some other "Oh my" expression of sorts that says without actually saying it—"All this for me?" Because the best people always question it.

There is no question whether Celestine Elizabeth Tolliver Harrison was deserving of the recognition by Cornelia, her brother, Gerald Robinson II, and her husband, Bronson Edwards, who brought the B&B to life. Born in Pensacola in 1908, Celestine was the matriarch of a family proud of its roots and heritage.

The B&B is also a tribute to Celestine's husband, Vandybilt, their five children—Jean, Lois, James, Mary and Horace—and every generation before and after, sharing with her the liquid thicker than water—stronger and more indelible, too.

A retired antique piano immediately greets guests as they walk into the B&B—an homage to the one in Celestine's home; hers had shelves filled to the brim with family photos. All the bedrooms are named after Celestine's children and personalized accordingly. Even the logo is Celestine's authentic signature that Cornelia sourced from the back of one of Mary's school report cards.

Family reinforces every wall—figuratively and literally.

Easily everyone's favorite feature is the custom wallpaper along the stairwell that Cornelia carefully curated over the course of a year and a half (sans installation). In addition to handdrawn illustrations of family photos, the wallpaper also features an image of the B&B, a tree still growing in the center of Seville Square, the clock outside the current Artel Gallery (formerly at the courthouse), the Bayfront Auditorium that used to reside at the end of Palafox Street and clippings from the Pensacola News Journal reporting the opening of Sacred Heart Hospital and 1960s